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,^V CIRCULAR 


FROM THE 


GENERAL LAND OFFICE, 


SHOWLNG 


THE MANNER OF PROCEEDING 


TO 


OBTAIN TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS UNDER THE PRE-EMPTION, 


HOMESTEAD, TIMBER CULTURE, AND OTHER LAWS. 


ISSUED OCTOBER 1, 1880. 


WASHTNGT02S: 


aOYEHNMENT PUIiNTINa OFFICE. 


1880. 



CIRCULAR 



FROM THE 



^GENERAL LAND OFFICE 



SHOWING 



THE MANNER OF PROCEEDING 



TO 



OBTAIN TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS UNDEE THE PRE-EMPTION, 
HOMESTEAD, TIMBER CULTURE, AND OTHER LAWS. 



ISSUED OCTOBER 1, 1880. 



WASHIKGTOl^: 

OOVEENMENT PEINTINO OFFIOEc 
1880. 










V 



Ui or u* ^ 



INDEX. 

GENERAL CIRCULAR OP OCTOBER 1, 1880. 



Page. 

Actual settler has a preference right to enter, as against whom 16 

Additional and new homestead entries within railroad limits 19-20 

Additional homestead entries for soldiers and sailors . . — 21-22 

Adjoining farm homesteads 18-19 

Appeals from decisions of Commissioner-... 39 

Appeals from decisions of registers and reoeivera. 38-39 

Blank forms in cash entries 71-72 

Blank forms in desert land entries 87-92 

Blank forms in homestead entries 76-86 

Blank forms in pre-emption entries 72-76 

Board of equitable adjudication, how composed, &c 57-58 

Blank forms in timber culture entries » 88-87 

Bounty land warrants 6-7 

Cash entries at ordinary private sale 6 

Claims of widows and minor orphan children for homesteads 21 

Claimants who have become insane 11-15 

Commissioner General Land Office, powers of, &c 42-58 

Commissions allowed to registers and receivers 42-44 

Commutation of homestead entries 17 

Contests of homestead and timber culture entries 16-27 

Credit ior services during the late war 20 

Criminal or civil suits not to be further maintained for or on account of certain 

timber trespasses 70 

Declaratory statements, homestead 20-21 

Declaratory statements, i)re-emption 8-9 

Desert land entries 29-31 

Duties of Commissioner General Land Office _. „ 42 

Duties of registers and receivers 40-41 

Entries in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois „ 24-25 

Fees for reducing testimonj' to writing in contested cases 43 

Fees in homestead entries 24 

Fees in i)re-emption , 42 

Final proof 13-15 

Grasshopper extension laws 9-10 

Heirs of deceased homestead parties 15 

Homestead entries , 12-24 

Indian homesteads .; 23 

Insanity of claimants ; homestead and pre-emption 11-15 

Land warrant locations ■. 6-7 

Land warrants are not issued for services in late war 7 

Notices in contests, how served 16 

Only States and Territories containing public lands 5 

3 



Page. 

Offenders, certain, allowed privilege of paying for the laud 7-8 

Perjury, how punished , 58 

Powers of Commissioner.. 42-58 

Pre-emption filings and entries 8-12 

Publication of intention to make final proof 13-14 

Receiving illegal fees, penalty 43-44 

Register's liability for giving false information, &c 44 

Relinquishments of entries 15-16 

Repayment of purchase money, fees, commissions, &c 36-38 

Returns from district land officers 40-41 

Revised Statutes in reference to homesteads 49 

Revised Statutes in reference to pre-emptions 44 

Saline lands ^ - 31 

Soldiers' and sailors' homestead entries 20-23 

Stone and timber lands 35-36 

Timber culture entries 25-29 

Town site entries 31-35 

United States land offices 94 



CIRCULAR. 



Department of the Interior, 

General Land Office, 
Washington, I). C, October 1, 1880. 

The following is communicated in reference to the manner of acquuing 
title to the public lands under different laws of Congress : 

The public lands referred to are included only within the States 
of Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, 
Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, 
Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Wisconsin, and the Territories of 
Arizona, Dakota, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Utah, Washington, and 
Wyoming. These States and Territories, with the exception of Ohio, 
Indiana, and Illinois, are divided into land districts, in each of which 
there is a land office established by law, with a register and a receiver 
in attendance for the sale or other disposal of the public lands therein. 
See sections 2234 to 2247 of the Eevised Statutes of the United States, 
copies hereto attached, No. 1 ', also list of land offices, on last i)age. 
Parties so desiring may obtain at these offices any proper information 
regarding vacant public lands. 

Of agricultural public lands there are two classes : the one class at 
$1.25 per acre, which is designated as minimum, and the other at $2.50 
per acre, or double minimum. The latter class consists of tracts embraced 
within the alternate sections of land reserved to the United States in 
acts of Congress making grants within prescribed limits of the lines of 
railroads, or other works of internal improvements, to aid in the con- 
struction thereof, such reserved sections being doubled in price. Con- 
gress, at its last session, passed an act, approved June 15, 1880 (copy 
attached, No. 16), the third section of which reduces to $1.25 per acre 
any such lands then subject to entry (meaning, in this connection, ordi- 
nary cash entry of offered lands) which were put in* market at the en- 
hanced price prior to the 1st of January, 1861. Title may be acquired 
by purchase at public sale, or by ordinary ''private entry," and in virtue 
of the pre-emption, homestead, timber culture, and other laws. 

BY PURCHASE AT PUBLIC SALE. 

This may be done where lands are ''offered" at public auction to the 
highest bidder, either pursuant to proclamation by the President or 
public notice given in accordance with directions from the General Land 
Office. 

BY "PRIVATE entry" OR LOCATION.. 

The lands liable to disposal in this manner are those which have been 
offered at public sale, which were not then sold, and which have not since 
been reserved or otherwise withdrawn from market. In this class of 
offered and unreserved public lands the following steps may be taken 
to acquire title : 

5 



CASH PURCHASES. 

The applicant will first present a written application to the register 
for the district in which the land desired is situated, describing the tract 
he wishes to purchase, giving its area (Form 4-001). Thereupon the 
register, if the tract is vacant, will so certify to the receiver, stating the 
price, and the applicant must then pay the amount of the purchase 
money. 

The receiver will then issue his receipt for the money paid, in dupli- 
cate, giving to the purchaser a duplicate receipt (Form 4-131). The 
register will then issue his certificate of purchase (Form 4-189). At the 
close of the month the register and receiver will make returns of the 
sale to the General Land Office, from which, when the proceedings are 
found regular, a patent or complete title will be issued; and on surrender 
of the duplicate receipt such patent will be delivered, at the option of 
the patentee, either by the Commissioner at Washington or by the reg- 
ister at the district land office. 

When patents are ready for delivery, they will in all cases be trans- 
mitted to the local office at which the location or entry was made, where 
they can be obtained by the party entitled thereto, npon surrender of 
the duplicate receipt, or certificate, as the case may be, unless the 
duplicate shall have been previously filed in this office with a request 
that the patent be delivered as requested by the person sending the 
same ; and in no case will the patent be delivered either from this or the 
local office except upon receipt of such duplicate, or, in case of its loss 
from any cause, upon the filing in lieu of the same of an affidavit made by 
the present bona fide owner of the land, accounting for the loss of the 
same, and also showing ownership of the tracts or a portion thereof em- 
braced in the patent. 

In case the duplicate has been duly assigned by the locator, by a valid 
transfer in accordance with the laws governing transfers of realty in the 
State where the land is situated, such assignment will be recognized by 
this office and patent, issued accordingly, provided the duplicate with the 
assignment thereon shall be filed in this office prior to the issuing of 
patent ; but in no case will a patent be canceled for the purpose of mak- 
ing a reissue in the name of the assignee, where such assignment is not 
in possession of the office i)rior to date of the patent. Transfers of this 
kind must in all cases comply strictly with the law of the place, and if 
the assignor be a married man, and the statute requires the wife to join 
in the deed, it must be complied with, and in case of failure in- this or 
other vital point the patent will follow strictly the recital of the certifi- 
cate and issue only in the name of the original purchaser. 

LOCATIONS WITH WARRANTS. 

Application must be made as in cash cases, but must be accompanied by 
a warrant duly assigned as the consideration for the land ; yet where the 
tract is $2.50 per acre, the party, in addition to the surrendered warrant, 
must pay in cash $1.25 per acre, as the warrant is in satisfaction of only 
so many acres at $1.25 per acre, or furnish a warrant of such denomi- 
nation as will, at the legal value of $1.25 per acre, cover the rated price 
of the land. For exami^le : A tract of 40 acres of land, held at $2.50 per 
acre, can be paid for with a warrant calling for 40 acres and the pay- 
ment of $50 in cash, or by surrendering an eighty-acre warrant for the 
same — the 40 acres to be in full satisfiiction for the said location ; or a 
tract of 80 acres, rated at $2.50 j)er acre, can be paid for by the surrender 



of two eighty-acre warrants. If there is a small excess in the area of 
the tract over the quantity called for on the face of the warrant in any 
case, such excess may be paid for in money. 

A duplicate certificate of location will then be furnished theparty, to 
be held until the patent is delivered, as in cases of cash sales. 

The following fees are chargeable by the land of&cers, and the several 
amounts must be ])aid at the time of location : 

For a 40- acre Tvarrant, 50 cents each to the register and receiver ; total $1 00 

For a 60-acre warrant, 75 cents each to the register and receiver ; total 1 50 

For an 80-acre Avarrant, $1 each to the register and receiver ; total 2 00 

For a 120-acre warrant, §1.50 each to the register and receiver ; total 3 00 

For a 160-acre warrant, s2 each to the register and receiver ; total 4 00 

The above has reference to certain warrants issued under the act of 
Congress of March 3, 1855, and previous acts, giving public land as a 
bounty for military services rendered prior to the passage of the acts in 
former wars of the republic. The bounties given by law for military 
services in the late civil war were not given in land, but in money. The 
only privileges granted to soldiers and sailors on account of military 
services rendered by them during the late civil war, in connection with 
tlie public lands, are provided for in sections 2304 to 2309 of the Eevised 
Statutes (copies attached, ^o. 1), allowing homestead entries to be 
made by them on condition of residence on the entered tracts, with cul- 
tivation of the soil, for a prescribed period. 

AaHICULTUKAL COLLEaE SCRIP. 

This scrip may be used — 

First. In the location of land at ^'•private entry,^^ but when so used is 
only api)licable to lands not mineral which may be subject to private entry 
^t $1.25 per acre, and is restricted to a technical ^^ quarter section^^ — that 
is, land embraced by the quarter section lines indicated on the official plats 
of survey; or it may be located on apart of a "quarter section," where 
such part is taken as in full for a quarter 5 but It cannot be applied to 
different subdivisions to make an area equivalent to a quarter section. 
The manner of proceeding to acquire title with this class of paper is the 
same as in cash and warrant cases, the fees to be paid being the same as 
on warrants. The location of this scrip at private entry is restricted to 
three sections in each township of land, and one million acres in any one 
State. 

Second. In payment of pre-emption claims, in the same manner and 
under the same rules and regulations as govern the application to pre- 
emptions of military land warrants ; this, too, without regard to the 
limitation as to the quantity located in a township or in any State. 

Third. In payment for homesteads commuted under section 2301 of 
the Revised Statutes of the United States (copy attached). 

In addition to the foregoing in reference to purchases at public offer- 
ing and purchases or locations at ordinary xDrivate entry, it is to be noted 
that the first section of the act of Congress of June 15, 1880 (copy at- 
tached, Xo. 16), having reference to cases of timber trespasses upon the 
public lands committed prior to March 1, 1879, extends to such trespassers 
the privilege of paying for the land upon which the offenses were so com- 
mitted, at the price per acre for which, under the law in force at date of 
payment, the lands could be sold. This privilege of purchase is not 
confined to lands subject to private entry, but extends to any lands, 
not mineral, subject to disposal under general existing laws. This 



8 

section cannot be construed to permit a party who falls within the class of 
offenders named to enter the land if the valid claim of another person shall 
have attached prior to his application to purchase and be still subsisting. 
Where lands are plainly subject to ordinary private entry, no special 
application to purchase, other than the usual application in cases of pri- 
vate entry, is required in order to enable the purchaser to avail himself 
of the benefits of this act. When lands are not plainly subject to ordi- 
nary private entry, and application to purchase the same shall be made 
with a view to securing the immunity contemplated by said first section, 
the district officers will require the same to be presented under oath of 
the applicant, giving a full and detailed statement of all the facts upon 
which he bases his claim to purchase. Such sworn statement should be 
corroborated by the affidavits of credible witnesses, and the officers will 
thereupon forward all the papers in a special letter to this office, allow- 
ing no entry until so directed by me. Entries so allowed will be included 
in the regular cash returns and accounts, the papers being issued as 
usual in cash entries, on which will be made a note referring to the act 
and the Commissioner's letter upon which the entry was allowed. 

PKE-EMPTIONS ADMISSIBLE TO THE EXTENT OF ONE QUARTER SEC- 
TION, OR ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY ACRES. 

These are admitted under sections 2257 to 2288 of the Ee vised Statutes 
of the United States (copies of which sections are hereto attached), upon 
"offered" and ''unoffered^' lands, and upon any of the unsurveyed lands 
belonging to the United States to which the Indian title is extinguished, 
although in the case of unsurveyed lands no definitive proceedings can 
be had as to the completion of the title until after the surveys shall have 
been extended and officially returned to the district land office. 

The pre-emption privilege is restricted to heads of families, widows, or 
single persons over the age of twenty-one, who are citizens of the United 
States, or who have declared their intention to become citizens, as re- 
quired by the naturalization laws. This does not include Indians, except 
such as have ceased their tribal relations and been declared citizens by 
treaties or acts of Congress. . 

The right of i)i*e-emption, formerly extended by act of Congress of 
March 3, 1853, for one quarter section, or 160 acres, at the price of $2.50 
per acre, to the alternate United States or reserved sections along the 
line of railroads is continued by the Eevised Statutes, sections 2257, 2259, 
and 2279. 

Section 2281 thereof protects the rights of settlers on sections along 
the line of railroads where settlements existed prior to withdrawal, and 
in such cases allows the land to be taken by the pre-emi)tors at $1.25 per 
acre, but requires that they shall file the proper notices of their claims 
and make proof and payment as in other cases. 

Where the tract is " offered'''' land, the i)arty must file with the dis- 
trict land oifice his declaratory statement as to the fact of his settle- 
ment within thirty days from the date of said settlement (Form 4-534), 
and within one year from date of settlement must appear before the regis- 
ter aud receiver andmake proof of his actual residence on, and cultivation 
of, the tract, and secure the same by paying cash^ or locating thereon mili- 
tary bounty land warrants or agricultural college scrip, according to 
law 5 or private claim scrip may now be used, under act of Congress of 
January 28, 1879 (copy attached, No. 10). 

Where the tract has been surveyed and not offered at public sale, the 
claimant must file his declaratory statement within three months from 



date of settlement (Form 4-535), and make proof and payment within 
thirty months after the expiration of the three months allowed for filing 
his declaratory notice, or, in other words, within thirty-three months 
from date of settlement (Forms 4-189, 4-536, and 4-535). 

Where settlements a»e made on unsurveyed lands, settlers are required, 
within three months after the date of the receipt at the distiict land 
of&ce of the approved plat of the township embracing their claims, to 
file their declaratory statement with the register of the proper land 
office (Form 4-535), and thereafter to make proof and payment for the 
tract within thirty months from the expiration of said three months 
(Forms 4-061, 4-375, and 4-374). 

The pre-emption filings provided for as above may be relinquished 
by the claimants in writing before the register or receiver of the proper 
district land office, or the relinquishment may be executed by the claim- 
ant on the back of the declaratory statement-receipt, duly witnessed 
and acknowledged in the manner requisite under the laws of the State 
or Territory in which the land is situated for the transfer of real estate. 
After relinquishment filed in the district land office, the tract embraced 
in the filing will be held subject to the claim of any other settler, ac- 
cording to the first section, act of May 14, 1880 (copy attached, Ko. 14). 
If the receipt is lost, or from any other cause cannot be produced, the 
relinquishment must be accompanied by the affidavit of the party show- 
ing the fact. 

When two or more settlers on unsurveyed land are found upon survey 
to be residing upon, or to have valuable improvements upon, the same 
smallest legal subdivision, they may make joint entry of such tract, and 
separate entries of the residue of their claims. This joint entry may be 
made in pursuance of contract between the parties, or without it. (Ee- 
vised Statutes, section 2274.) 

Should the settler in either of the aforesaid cases die before estab- 
lishing his claim within the period limited by law, the title may be per- 
fected by the executor, administrator, or one of the heirs, by making 
the requisite proof of settlement and iDaying for the land, the entry to be 
made in the name of "the heirs " of the deceased settler, and the patent 
will be issued accordingly. The legal representatives of the deceased 
pre-emptor are entitled to make the entry at any time within the period 
during which the pre-emptor would have been entitled to do so had he 
lived. 

Section 2261 of the Eevised Statutes prohibits the second filing of a 
declaratory statement by any pre-emptor qualified at the date of his 
first filing, where said filing has been in all respects legal. Where the 
first filing, however, is illegal from any cause, not the willful act of the 
party, he has the right to make a second and legal filing. 

In the first section of the act of Congress of July 1, 1879, entitled 
'^ An act for the relief of settlers on the pubUc lands in districts subject 
to grasshopper incursions," it is provided — 

That it shall be lawful for homestead and pre-emption settlers on the public lands, 
and in all cases where ijre-emptions are authorized by law, where crops have been or 
may be destroyed or seriously injured by grasshoppers, to leave and be absent from 
said lands, under such rules and regulations, as to proof of the same, as the Commis- 
sioner of the General Land Office shall jDrescribe ; but in no case shall such absence 
extend beyond one year continuously ; and duriug such absence no adverse rights 
shall attach to said lands, such settlers being allowed to resume and perfect their 
settlement as though, no such absence had occurred. 

And in its second section it is provided^- 

That the time for making final proof and payment by pre-emptors whose crops shall 
have been destroyed or injured as aforesaid, may, in the discretion of the Commis- 



10 

sioner of the General Land Office, be extended for one year after the expiration of the 
term of absence provided for in the first section of this act; and all the rights and 
privileges extended by this act to homestead and pre-emption settlers shall apply to 
and include the settlers under an act entitled "An act to encourage the growth of 
timber on western prairies," approved March third, eighteen hundred and seventy- 
three, and the acts amendatory thereof. 

The proof required in the first section of said act may consist of tlie 
affidavit of the claimant j giving the particulars of the alleged destruc- 
tion or serious injury of crops by grasshoppers, and the affidavits of two 
or more witnesses corroborative thereof, and should be submitted at 
time of making final proof through the register and receiver of the 
proper district land office. The particulars given should be such as to 
admit of a decision whether the absence was justified by law or not, and 
should of course indicate at what time the jjarty left the land and when 
he resumed his settlement. 

Written notice of intended absence, signed by the party, should be 
filed with the register and receiver when he leaves his claim, and be 
noted on the tract books ; this for the protection of the claimant, and 
as notice to those who might otherwise make settlement and attempt to 
obtain title. 

C-.imants desiring the extension of time provided for in the second 
section of said act may apply therefor through the same officers, the 
application to be supported by the same character of proof. The affi- 
davits required in cases under said act, as before indicated, may be made 
before any officer using a seal and authorized to administer oaths, or 
before the register or receiver of the district land office. 

In view of recent sufferings from drought in the States of Kansas and 
Nebraska, Congress passed an act entitled "An act for the relief of cer- 
tain homestead and pre-emption settlers in Kansas and Nebraska," ap- 
proved June 4, 1880, which reads as follows, viz : 

That it shall be lawful for homestead and pre-emption settlers on the public lands 
or pre-emption settlers upon Indian reservations in the States of Kansas and Nebraska 
west of the sixth principal meridian, where there has been a loss or failure of crops 
from unavoidable cause, in the year of 1879 or 1680, to leave and be absent from said 
lands until the first day of October, 1881, under such rules and regulations as to proof 
and notice as the Commissioner of the General Land Office may i^rescribe ; and during 
said absence no adverse rights shall attach to said lands, such settlers being allowed 
to resume and perfect their settlement as though no such absence had occurred. 

Sec. 2. That the time for making final proof and payment by such pre-emptors is 
hereby extended for one year after the expiration of the term of absence provided for 
in the first section of this act ; but in cases where the purchase money is by law pay- 
able in installments, the first unpaid installment shall be held not to be due until one 
year after the expiration of the leave of absence aforesaid. 

It will be seen that the provisions of this act have reference only to 
such lands as lie ivest of the sixth principal meridian in the States of 
Kansas and Nebraska. Lands in other States or Territories are not 
referred to; nor are those lands in Kansas and Nebraska which lie east 
of the sixth princii:>al meridian. The lands to which its provisions ap- 
ply are included in the land districts of Wi(jhita, Salina, Concordia, 
Lamed, Kirwin, and Wa-Keeney, all the districts except Topeka and 
Independence, in Kansas, and Niobrara, Norfolk, Lincoln, Grand Island, 
North Platte, Bloomington, and Beatrice, all the districts in Nebraska. 

Under the provisions of this act, homestead and pre-emption settlers 
on the public lands and jn^e-emption settlers upon Indian reservations 
within the section of country indicated, who have suffered from loss or 
failure of crops from unavoidable causes in the year 1870 or 1880, may 
leave and be absent from their lantls until the 1st day of October, 1881, 
without their riglit to the same being impaired thereby. The pre emp- 
tion settlers entitled to its benefits are allowed also an extension of time 



11 

for making final proof and payment for one year from the 1st of October, 
1881; and where the purchase money is by law payable in installments, 
this act provides that the first unpaid installment shall be held not to be 
due until one year after the expiration of such leave of absence. 

This right of absence is not available in any case in which there has 
not been ''a loss or failure of crops from unavoidable cause in the year 
1879 or 1880" ; hence, when a settler not actually entitled to the benefits 
of this act absents himself from his claim, it will be liable to be regarded 
as an abandonment, and adverse claims may be recognized. 

As in cases arising under the grasshopper act of July 1, 1879, before 
mentioned, the settler desiring to leave his claim under this act should 
file with the register and receiver of the proper district land office a 
written notice of his intention to do so, bearing bis signature, and em- 
bracing a statement that he has sustained a loss or failure of his crops 
in 1879 or 1880, this being necessary for his own protection, and as 
notice due parties who might otherwise initiate claims to the land. 

At date of final proof by any party who shall have availed himself of 
this act he must show by satisfactory proof the period of absence and 
specific facts making appear the loss or failure of crops from unavoida- 
ble cause in 1879 or 1880, on account of which he was entitled to its 
benefits. The proof should consist of the party's own testimony, cor- 
roborated by that of two or more disinterested witnesses. 

After a party shall have filed the notice of intended absence under 
this act, no contest involving his right to the land can be instituted prior 
to the expiration of the legal term of absence to which he is entitled. 
If the party should be fraudulently absent, it will be a matter of inves- 
tigation in the regular manner thereafter. All notices filed will be duly 
entered on the records of the district office, and reported with the final 
proof made in the case. 

Provision is made by act of Congress of June 8, 1880 (copy attached, 
No. 15), whereby the rights of pre-emption claimants becoming insane 
may be proved up, and their claims perfected by any person duly au- 
thorized to act for them during their disability. 

1. Such claims must have been initiated in full compliance with law, 
by persons who were citizens or had declared their intention to become 
citizens, and were in other respects duly qualified. 

2. The party for whose benefit the act shall be invoked must have 
become insane subsequent to the initiation of his claim, and the act will 
not be construed to cure a failure to comply with the law when such 
failure occurred prior to such insanity. 

3. Claimant must have complied with the law up to the time of be- 
coming insane, and proof of compliance will be required to cover only 
the period prior to such insanity. 

4. The final proof must be made by a party whose authority to act 
for the insane person during such disability shall be duly certified under 
seal of the jjroper probate court. 

Before final proof is made on i^re-emption claims and entries allowed, 
it is necessary that public notice be given under the act of Congress of 
March 3, 1879, as pointed out with regard to homestead claims under 
the next succeeding title; and parties interested in the issue of pre- 
emption and other patents are further advised that, in a decision of the 
Hon. Assistant Secretary of the Interior, of July 27, 1880, in the case ot 
Horace Whitaker ex rel. Nathan H. Garretson v. The Southern Pacific 
Eailroad Company and Wesley M. Slater, the following instructions 
are promulgated for the government of this office : 



12 

* * * J think it is not a correct practice to issue a pre-emption patent to an 
assignee in any case. The law as to the issuance of patents is well stated in the case 
of McGarrahan v. New Idria Co. (49 Cal., 335) thus: '^Neither the President, however, 
nor any officer, has other power * * * to sign or to cause the seal of the Land 
Office to be affixed to patents than such as is conferred by statute of the United 
States." (See also Stoddard i;. Chambers, 2 How., 318; McGarrahan v. Mining Co., 
supra; sections 450 and 453 of the Revised Statutes; and act of June 19, 1878, 20 Stat., 
183. ) I find nothing in the pre-emption law requiring the issuance of patents to assignees 
of pre-emptors, and the labor of examining into assignments ought not to be assumed 
by your office, to say nothing of the evils that may result from issuing patents to as- 
signees in pre-emption cases. The same doctrine applies to all cases of the issuance 
of patents except where the statutes expressly recognize the right of an assignee to 
take patent in his own name. 

LAWS EXTENDING THE HOMESTEAD PRIVILEGE. 

I. The laws extending the homestead privilege, embraced in sections 
2289 to 2312 of the Eevised Statutes (copies attached), give to every 
citizen, and to those who have declared their intention to become citi- 
zens, the right to a homestead on surveyed lands. This right was lim- 
ited by section 2289 of the Eevised Statutes, as the maximum quantity, 
to 160 acres of the class of ordinary public lands held by law at $1.25 
per acre, when disposed of to cash purchasers, or 80 acres of the class 
of lands embraced in the alternate sections, along the lines of railroads 
or other works of internal improvement, reserved to the United States 
in acts of Congress making grants of land in aid of the construction of 
such works, and the price thereof increased to $2.50 per acre. By act 
of Congress of March 3, 1879 (copy attached, Ko. 11), it was enacted 
that from and after its passage " the even sections within the limits of 
any grant of j)ublic lands to any railroad company, or to any military 
road company, or to any State in aid of any railroad or military road, 
shall be open to settlers uuder the homestead laws to the extent of one 
hundred and sixty acres to each settler," thus doing away in this class 
of entries with the distinction between ordinary minimum and double 
minimum lands, or lands held at $1.25 per acre and lands held at $2.50 
per acre, which had existed under section 2289 of the Eevised Statutes 
Of the United States, so far as the double minimum lands may be found 
in even sections within the limits of land grants for railroads or military 
roads. These provisions did not extend so as to embrace any double 
minimum lands in odd numbered sections, or in the limits of grants for 
any other description of public works. By act of July 1, 1879 (copy at- 
tached, No. 12), the same provisions were extended to the odd sections 
in the States of Missouri and Arkansas, where the odd sections were re- 
served to the United States, the price of the lands therein enhanced, 
and the even sections granted for the purposes of improvement. Both 
acts were inoperative in any case where the even sections were granted, 
the odd being reserved, and not within the States of Missouri and Ar- 
kansas, as in Alabama and Mississippi j but the double minimum lauds 
in the two last mentioned States having been brought into market at 
the enhanced price i)rior to the 1st January, 1861, are now reduced to 
$1.25 per acre under the third section of the act of June 15, 1880 (copy 
attached, No. 10). 

To obtain a homestead the party must, in connection with his applica- 
tion (Form 4-007),make an affidavit (Form 4-063), before the register or 
receiver, that he is over the age of twenty-one or the head of a family; 
that he is a citizen of the United States, or has declared his intention 
to become such; and that the entry is made for his exclusive use and 
benefit, and for actual settlement and cultivation ; and must pay the 



13 

legal fee and that part of the commissions which is payable when the 
entry is made, as given in tables on page 24. 

Where the applicant has made actual settlement on the land he desires 
to enter, but is prevented by reason of bodily infirmity, distance, or other 
good cause, from personal attendance at the district land office, the affi- 
davit may be made before the clerk of the court for the county within 
which the land is situated, under section 2294 of the Kevised Statutes. 

On compliance by the party with the foregoing requirements, the re- 
ceiver will issue his receipt for the fee and that part of the commissions 
paid (Form 4-137), a duplicate of which he will deliver to the party. The 
matter will then be entered on the records of the district office and re- 
ported to the General Land Office. 

II. An inceptive right is vested in the settler by such proceedings, and 
upon faithful observance of the law in regard to settlement and cultiva- 
tion for the continuous term of five years, and at the expiration of that 
time, or within two years thereafter, upon proper proof to the satisfaction 
of the land officers (Forms 4-070, 4-369, and 4-370), and payment to the 
receiver of that part of the commissions remaining to be paid, as given 
in tables on page 24, the receiver issuing his receipt therefor, the reg- 
ister will issue his certificate (Forms 4-140 and 4-196), and make proper 
returns to this office as the basis of a patent or complete title for the 
homestead. In regard to the requirement of continuous residence and 
cultivation in such cases, reference is made to the exceptions provided 
for in the act of Congress of July 1, 1879, as given above, with respect 
to grasshopper ravages, and within certain sections of Kansas 'and Ne- 
braska provided for by act of June 4, 1880, also given above, in cases 
of loss or failure of crops from unavoidable causes, these acts being 
applicable to homestead claims in like manner as to pre-emptions. And 
an inceptive right to a homestead may now be acquired, and the period 
of continuous residence and cultivation begin to run, prior to the 
date of formal entry at the district land office, by the party making 
actual settlement on the tract desired, provided the entry at the district 
office is made within the prescribed period thereafter as in pre-emptions. 
The third section of the act of May 14, 1880 (copy attached, Ko. 14), 
places homestead settlers on public lands on the same footing with pre- 
emption settlers under existing laws. This section protects the claim of 
an actual settler upon unsurveyed land not yet open to entry at the dis- 
trict office, provided he shall make homestead entry of the land within 
three months from the filing of the township plat of survey in the dis- 
trict land office, the same as the pre-emptor is now protected by filing 
his declaratory statement within the same period j and if the homestead 
settler shall fully comply with the law as to continuous residence and 
cultivation, his settlement defeats aU claims intervening •between its date 
and the date of filing his homestead application. In making final proof, 
his five years of residence and cultivation will commence from date of 
actual settlement. 

Note. — The law is specific in requiring final proof to be made witMn tico years after 
the expiration of the five years from day of entry. 

Under the act of Congress of March 3, 1879 (copy attached, No. 13), 
any settler desiring to make final proof must first file with the register 
of the proper land office a written notice of his intention to do so. Such 
notice must describe the land claimed, and the claimant must give the 
names and residences of the witnesses by whom the necessary facts as 
to settlement, residence, cultivation, &c., are to be established. (See 
Form 4-348.) 



14 

The filing of such notice must be accompanied by a deposit of sufficient 
money to pay the cost of publishing the notice to be given by the reg- 
ister. 

Upon the filing of the notice by the applicant, the register shall pub- 
lish a notice of such application once each week for a i)eriod of thirty 
days, in a newspaper which he shall designate, by an order written on said 
application, as published nearest the land described in the ai)plication, 
and he shall also post said notice in some conspicuous place in his ofiice 
for the same period. A compliance with the law will require the notice 
to be published weekly five times, because four weekly publications 
would not cover a period of thirty days. 

The notice to be given by the register must state that application to 
make final proof has been filed } the name of the applicant ; the kind of 
entry, whether homestead or pre-emption ; a description of the land, 
and the names and residences of the witnesses as stated in the applica- 
tion. (See Form 4-347.) 

To save expense, the register may embrace two or more cases in one 
publication, when it can be done consistently with the legal require- 
ments of publication, in a newspaper published nearest the land, as per 
attached Form 4-347^. 

When proof is filed that notice has been given in the manner and for 
the time required by said act of Congress, the applicant will be entitled 
to make final proof, as provided by law. 

The proof that requisite notice has been given will be the certificate 
of the register that the notice of the application (a copy of which should 
be annexed to the certificate) was posted by him in a conspicuous place 
in his ofiice for a period of tliii'ty days (Form 4-227), and the affidavit 
of the publisher or Ibreman of the newspaper that the notice (a copy of 
which notice must be annexed to the affidavit) was published in said 
newspaper once each week for five successive weeks. 

The proof of the publication and posting of the notice must be filed and 
preserved by the register, to be forwarded to this office with the final 
papers when issued. 

In making final proof the homestead party may appear in person at 
the district land office with his witnesses, and there make the affidavit 
and proof required in support of his claim, or he may proceed under the 
act of March 3, 1877 (copy attached, jSTo. 2). This prescribes that the 
party desiring to avail himself thereof must appear with his witnesses 
before the judge of a court of record of the county and State, or district 
and Territory, in which the laud is situated, and there make the final 
proof required by law, according to the forms prescribed, Nos. 4-070, 
4-369, and 4-370, which proof, duly authenticated by the court seal, is 
required to be transmitted by the judge or the clerk of the court to the 
register and receiver, together with the fee and charges allowed by law. 
See 3d, 10th, and 12th subdivisions of section 2238 of the Eevised Stat- 
utes of the United States (copy attached). 

The judge being absent in any case, the proof may be made before 
the clerk of the proper court. The fact of the absence of the judge must 
be certified in the papers by the clerk acting in his place. 

If the land in any case is situated in an unorganized county, the statute 
provides that the party may proceed to make the proof, in the manner 
indicated, in any adjacent county in the State or Territory. The fact 
that the county in which the land lies is unorganized, and that the 
county in which the proof is made is adjacent thereto, must be certified 
by the officer. 
■ In any case where the final proof shall be transmitted to the register 



15 

and receiver, as contemplated in this act, and the full amount of money 
due shall be paid, they will carefully examine the proof, and, if no ob- 
jection appears, proceed to issue the receipt and certificate in the case, 
and make proper returns to this office as the basis of a patent or com- 
plete title for the homestead, pursuant to existing laws. If any objection 
appears they will promptly notify the party and advise him of his rights 
in the matter. 

Where a homestead settler dies before the consummation of his claim, 
the widow, or in case of her death the heirs, may continue settlement 
or cultivation, and obtain title upon requisite proof at the proper time. 
If the widow proves up, title passes to her ; if she dies before prov- 
ing up and the heirs make the proof, the title will vest in them. 

Where both parents die, leaving infant children, the homestead may 
be sold for cash for the benefit of such children, and the purchaser will 
receive title from the United States, or the patent will issue to the infants 
on proof of settlement or cultivation for the prescribed period. 

Under the act of Congress of June 8, 1880 (copy attached, l^o. 15), par- 
ties whose homestead entries were regularly made according to law, 
and who afterwards became insane, may be represented for making final 
proof and perfecting their entries by any person whose authority to act 
for them during their disability shall be duly certified under seal of the 
proper probate court. This act will not be construed to cure failure to 
comply with the law where the failure occurred prior to the insanity of 
the claimant. Final proof will not be received until the expiration of 
the five years, but proof of residence and cultivation will be required 
to cover only the period prior to such insanity. If a claimant becomes 
insane after expiration of the period of residence, &c., the act will be 
construed to permit his guardian to act for him within the time in which 
he might have made final entry himself. The proof must show the reg- 
ularity of the entry, and therefore that the claimant was either a citi- 
zen or had filed his declaration to become one according to the natural- 
ization laws at date of entry, but further proof will not be required as 
to citizenship. 

The sale of a homestead claim by the settler to another party before 
completioD of title is not recognized by this office, and vests no title or 
equities in the purchaser. In making final proof, the settler is by law 
required to swear that no part of the land has been alienated, except as 
provided in section 2288 of the Eevised Statutes, for church, cemetery, 
or- school purposes, or the right of way of railroads. So far, however, 
as regards homestead entries made prior to the 15th June, 1880, for 
lands properly subject to such entry, the second section of the act of 
Congress of that date (copy attached, No. 16) provides that the persons 
to whom the rights of those having so entered for homesteads may have 
been attempted to be transferred by bona fide instruments in writing 
may entitle themselves to said lands by paying the government price 
therefor less the fee and commissions paid on the entries. Instructions 
relative to such cases will be found in i)lace below. . • 

III. As the law allows but one homestead privilege, a settler relin- 
quishing or abandoning his claim cannot thereafter make a second entry ^ 
although where an entry is canceled as invalid for some reason other than 
abandonment, and not the willful act of the party, he is not thereby 
debarred from entering again, if in other respects entitled, and may have 
the fee and commissions paid on the canceled entry refunded on proper 
application under the act of June 16, 1880 ; or, if he so elect, he may, by 
special instructions from this office, be allowed credit for such fee and 
commissions on a new homestead entry. 



16 

By the first section of the act of May 14, 1880 (copy attached, j^o. 14), 
it is enacted '^ that when a pre-emption, homestead, or timber culture claim- 
ant shall tile a written relinquishment of his claim in the local land office, 
the land covered by such claim shall be held as open to settlement and 
entry, without further action on the part of the Commissioner of the 
General Land Office." The district land officers are instructed not to 
accept or act upon any relinquishment, unless made before them, which 
has not been duly subscribed by the claimant on the back of his dupli- 
cate receipt, and acknowledged, witnessed, and executed in the manner 
requisite under the laws of the State or Territory in which the land is 
situated for the valid transfer of real estate. In case of the loss of the 
dux>licate receipt an affidavit of such loss must accompany the written 
relinquishment. 

Immediately upon a relinquishment, duly executed as above, being 
received at their office, the register will note on the relinquishment, over 
his signature, the day and hour of its receipt, will write the words 
" Canceled by relinquishment " (giving date) opposite the record of the 
entry in the tract book, the register of entries, and the register of re- 
ceipts, and draw a line over the number of the entry on the township 
plat. 

On Monday of each week they are directed to transmit to this office 
all the relinquishments which have been accepted by them during the 
preceding week. When the relinquishment shall have been received 
and noted as above, they will hold the land embraced in the relinquished 
entry as subject to settlement or entry by the first legal claimant ; the 
intent of said section, as understood by me, being only to prevent the 
delay formerly resulting from awaiting action on such relinquishments 
by this office. 

lY. Where application is made to contest the validity of a homestead 
entry on the ground of abandonment, the party must file his affidavit with 
the district land officers, setting forth the allegations on which his ap- 
plication is founded describing the tract and giving the name of the 
settler. Upon this the officers will set apart a day for hearing, giving 
aU the parties in interest due notice of the time and place of trial. 

In cases of inability to make personal service of the notice, and when 
it becomes necessary to serve it by publication, the act of Congress of 
June 3, 1878, directs that the same shall " be printed in some newspa- 
per printed in the county where the land in contest lies j and if no news- 
paper be printed in such county, then in the newspaper printed in the 
county nearest to such land." After the trial, the land officers will 
transmit the testimony, with their joint report, for the action of this 
office, according to Eules of Practice approved October 9, 1878, given in 
separate circular. 

The contestant must defray the expenses incident to such a contest. 
Under the second section of the act of Congress ol May 14, 1880, before 
referred to, if he succeeds in the contest, and procures the cancellation 
of the entry, he will be notified thereof, and for a period of thirty days 
from such notice will be allowed a preference right to institute a claim 
to the land over any other person who may desire to do so. 

Y. According to the principles laid down in the decisions rendered 
by the United States Supreme Court in the case of Atherton vs. Fowler, 
6 Otto, 513, and tlie case of Hosmer vs. Wallace, 7 Otto, 575, the prefer- 
ence right of a bona fide actual settler will be recognized as against any 
other party seeking title to the tract covered by his settlement, under 
the pre-emption, homestead, or timber culture laws. 

YI. When an individual has made settlement on a tract and filed his 



17 

preemption cleclaration tlierefoi-, lie may change his filing into a home- 
stead, if he continues in good faith to comi)ly with the pre-emption laws 
until the change is effected ; and by an act of Congress of May 27, 1878 
(copy attached, Ko. 3), the time during which the i^arty has resided 
upon and claimed the land as a pre-emi)tor will be credited upon the 
period of residence and cultivation required under the homestead laws. 
In so doing he is required in his first homestead affidavit to set forth 
the fact of a previous i:>re-emi)tion filing, the time of actual residence 
thereunder, and the intention to claim the benefit of such time as pro- 
\ided for in the act. In making final proof on his homestead entry he 
is required, in addition to the usual affidavit and proof, to make the pre- 
scribed "pre-emption homestead affidavit" (Form 4-071). 

YII. If the homestead settler does not wish to remain five years on his 
tract, the law permits him to pay for it with cash or warrants or agri- 
cultural college scrij), upon making proof of settlement and cultivation 
for a period of not less than six months from the date of entry to the 
time of payment ; or payment may now be made with private claim 
scrip under the act of January 28, 1879 (copy attached, ^o. 10). 

This proof of actual settlement and cultivation must be the affidavit 
of the part3^ (Form 4-089) made before the district officers, in addition to 
the testimony usual in making final homestead proof (Forms 4-369 and 
4-370), or the party may, under the act of June 9, 1880, make the required 
affidavit before the clerk of any court of record of the county and State 
or district and Territory in which the land is situated j or if in any un- 
organized county, he may make such affidavit in a similar manner in 
any adjacent county in the State or Territory. 

- With respect to the class of homestead entries made prior to the 15th 
June, 1880, the act of Congress that day approved (copy attached, No. 
16) provides another method of acquiring title to the land by purchase. 
Under section 2, duly qualified persons who, prior to June 15, 18S0, en- 
tered, under any of the homestead laws, lands properly subject to such 
entry, are permitted to obtain title by paying the government price, less 
the fee and commissions paid thereon. 

In allowing entries of this class, the district officers will require proof 
that the party was twenty-one years of age, or the head of a family, 
was a citizen or had declared his intention to become a citizen of the 
United States, and was in other respects entitled to make the entry. 

When homestead entries made prior to June 15, 1880, have been at- 
tempted to be transferred by honafide instrument in writing, the persons 
to whom such transfers were made are likewise authorized to obtain title 
by like payments and with like deductions of fees and commissions. 

In permitting entries by transferees, they will first ascertain whether 
the original homestead entry was a valid entry under the homestead 
laws. They will then require the instrument in writing by which it was 
sought to transfer such homestead right to be filed, together with the 
best e^-idence attainable of the bona fide character of the transfer, includ- 
ing the affidavit of the party who seeks to purchase. They will also 
require satisfactory proof that the attempted transfer was made prior to 
June 15, 1880. In cases of doubt as to the propriety of allowing the 
api)lication to purchase, they should refer all the i)apers to this office, 
with a full statement of facts and their opinion. 

oJ^o entry will be allowed under the second section when the original 

homestead entry was not a valid entry; nor when an entry under the 

homestead laws shall have been made on the same land subsequent to 

the original entry ; nor if the land was embraced in a prior valid entry 

2 cm 



18 

at the date of sucli original homestead entry; nor where adverse legal 
rights of any character exist at the date of the application to purchase. 

Applications to purchase under said second section will be made on 
Form 4-001, as in case of ordinary cash entry, and must be accom- 
panied by the receiver's duplicate homestead receipt, or, if that has been 
lost or destroyed, by an af&davit setting forth such fact, and giving the 
register's and receiver's number and date of the original homestead 
entry. It must also be stated in the application that the same is made 
under the second section of the act of June 15, 1880. Where the dupli- 
cate receipt has been lost or destroyed, and the ax)plication to purchase 
is made by the original homestead i)arty, the applicant must make oath 
that he has not transferred nor attempted to transfer his homestead 
rights under said entry, nor assigned his right to receive the repayment 
of the fees, commissions, and excess payments paid thereon. The regis- 
ter will certify to the receiver the amount to be allowed as credit for fees 
and commissions already paid, the applicant first making oath that said 
fees and commissions have not been repaid, and that no application for 
such repayment has been made. 

Entries under said second section will receive current register's and 
receiver's numbers in the regular cash series, and will be returned in the 
same manner as in other cases of cash entry, referring, however, in each 
instance, on the cash abstracts, certificates, and receipts, to the date of 
the act authorizing the entry, the register's and receiver's number of the 
original homestead application, and the amount allowed as credit for fees 
and commissions, as follows : "Act June 15, 1880. Original homestead 
entry No. — . Credit for fees and commissions, $ ." 

Final homestead proof not being required in these cases, no adver- 
tisement or notice of intention to make fiual proof is necessary, and no 
final homestead fees are to be paid or collected. 

Warrants and scri}), made receivable by law for lands subject to sale at 
private entry, or in commutation of homestead or pre-emption rights, and 
certificates of deposit on account of surveys, will be deemed receivable 
for lands purchased under the act of June 15, 1880. 

The existing rule must, however, be observed, that where the value of 
warrants or scrip exceeds that of the land entered therewith, no repaj^- 
ment is authorized, but the warrant or scrip applied must be fully sur- 
rendered. In such case there would be no claim for repayment on ac- 
count of the fee and commissions paid on the original homestead entry. 

YIII. There is a class of homesteads designated as " adjoining farm 
homesteads.'^ In these cases the law allows an applicant oivning and resid- 
ing on an original farm to enter other land lying contiguous thereto, which 
shall not, with such farm, exceed in the aggregate 100 acres. Thus, for 
example, a party owning or occupying 80 acres may enter 80 additional, 
without regard to price, whether held at $1.25 or 83.50 per acre; or, if 
owning 40 acres, he may enter 120 acres additional of land held at 81.25 per 
acre, or of land held at $2.50 per acre, where 160 acres is now the maximum 
quantity of double minimum land subject to homestead entry, but cannot 
exceed the maximum of 80 acres where the land proposed to be entered 
is held at $2.50 per acre, and Avhere 80 acres is still the legal maxi- 
mum in reference to that class of lands, under section 2289 of the Ee- 
vised Statutes as modiiied by the acts of Cougress of March 3, 1870, July 
1, 1879, and June 15, 1880, before mentioned. 

In api)lying for an entry of this class, the party must make affidavit 
(Form 4-06G) describing the tract which he owns aud upon which he 
resides as his original farm. In making final proof it is not required 



19 

that he should prove actual residence outhe separate tract eutered ; but 
if he does not, it must appear from the proof adduced (Forms 4-369, 4-370, 
and 4-067, the two former to be modified to suit the circumstances of 
the case) that he has continued for the period required by law to reside 
upon and cultivate the original farm tract, making use of the entered 
tract as a part of the homestead. 

IX. The act of March 3, 1879 (copy attached, Xo. 11), in addition to its 
provisions already referred to, proyides,^r6'^, that " any person Avho has 
under existing laws taken a homestead on any even section within the 
limits of any railroad or military road land grant, and who by existing 
laws shall have been restricted to 80 acres, may enter under the home- 
stead laws an additional 80 acres adjoining the land embraced in his 
original entry, if such additional land be subject to entry," without pay- 
ment of fees and commissions, and that '' the residence and cultivation 
of such person upon and of the land embraced in his original entry shall 
be considered residence and cultivation for the same length of time upon 
and of the land embraced in his additional entry, and shall be deducted 
from the five years' residence required by law," with the proviso, how- 
ever, that in no case shall patent issue " until the person has actually, 
and in conformity with the homestead laws, occupied, resided ui)on, and 
cultivated the land" embraced in his additional entry " at least one year.'' 
The act of July 1, 1879, is similar in effect. 

Upon any i^arty proposing to enter an additional tract under these 
provisions, the register and receiver will requii-e him to submit proof 
which shall set forth the particulars of his existing entry and of his 
compliance with the legal requirements regarding the same, according 
to forms provided for use in making final proof, 4-369 and 4-370, as also 
to swear that lie did not serve in the Army or Navy of the United States 
during the late civil war for ninety days or more, as the class of persons 
who thus served were not restricted to eighty acres under previously 
existing laws, and, therefore, are not entitled to the benefits of the acta 
referred to, and to make homestead application and affidavit according 
to attached Forms 4-018 and 4-086. The required proof is found necessary 
to ascertain the status of the original entry at the date of aijplication 
for the benefit of the said acts, and also the credit for residence and culti- 
vation to wliich the party who made the same may be entitled, accord- 
ing to their provisions, in perfecting his title under the additional or new 
entry to be allowed, without waiting the arrival of the time when final 
proof on the latter is to be made. With reference, however, to cases in 
which final proof on the original entries has been made and the certifi- 
cates issued, the requirement of proof as herein directed may be omitted, 
and in lieu thereof a reference made in reporting the case to the cer- 
tificate issued, giving its number and date, so that it may be identified 
on the records of this office. 

These requirements having been complied with, the register and re- 
ceiver will then, if they find his original entry to be intact on their rec- 
ords, whether patented or not, and if no objection appears in any respect, 
allow the entry applied for, note the same on their records, giving it the 
proper number in the regular homestead series, and report it with their 
monthly homestead returns, indicating its character as an additional 
entry under said act on the margin of their monthly abstracts, with a 
reference to the original entry by its number, and the description of the 
land. The money columns in the abstracts will of course be left blank, 
since there will be no fees and commissions paid. 

In this class of entries the party, if stni resident on the original entry 



20 

tract, will not be required to remove therefrom to the additional entry 
tract in order to mal-.e a new residence on the latter, as the two forming- 
one body of land, residence on either will be regarded as satisfying the 
legal requirement 5 but in making final proof on the additional entry 
the party must show such residence, with occupancy and cultivation of 
the tract taken as additional under said act, for five years from the date 
of entry thereof, less the time to be deducted on account of residence 
and cultivation on the original entry, which shall not exceed four years 
in any case. 

Second. The acts further provide that should the person so elect he 
may, instead of making an additional entry, ^' surrender his existing entry 
to the United States for cancellation, and thereupon be entitled to enter 
lands under the homestead laws the same as if the surrendered entry had 
not been made," with the same provisions, as regards fees and commis- 
sions not being required, and requiring settlement and cultivation, oc- 
cupation, and residence, as have been already stated with regard to ad- 
ditional entries. In case of any party electing to surrender his entry 
under this act, the register and receiver will receive his relinquishment, 
which shall specify for what i^urpose made, and be accompanied by the 
duplicate receipt issued for the relinquished entry, or by a statement 
under oath showing a good reason for its absence, report the case in a 
special letter to this ofiSce, and await instructions before proceeding fur- 
ther in the matter. Relinquishments may be made in the same manner 
hei einbefore provided for. 

Provisions for the benefit of soldiers and sailors of the late icar, their 
widoivs and minor orphan children. — Sections 2304, 2305, 2306, 2307, 
2308, and 2309 of the Revised Statutes, for the benefit of soldiers and 
sailors, their widows, and minor orphan children, provide — 

1st. In section 2304, that every soldier and officer in the Army, and 
every seaman, marine, and officer of the ^avy, who served for not less 
than ninety days in the Army or Kavy of the United States, " during 
the recent rebellion," and who was honorably discharged, and has re- 
mained loyal to the government, may enter, under the provisions of the 
homestead law, 160 acres of the public land, to be t.^ken, if desired, from 
the class of double minimum lands. 

2d. In section 2305, that the time of his service, or the whole term of 
his enlistment if the party was discharged on account of wounds or dis- 
ability incurred in the line of duty, shall be deducted from the period of 
five years, during which, as per section 2291, the claimant must, to per- 
fect title, reside upon and cultivate the entered tract, but with the pro- 
viso that the party shall, in every case, reside upon, improve, and cul- 
tivate his homestead for a period of at least one year after he shall have 
commenced his improvements. 

3d. That any person entitled to the benefits of section 2304, who had, 
prior to the 22d of June, 1874, made a homestead entry of less than 160 
acres, may enter an additional quantity of land sufficient to make, with 
the previous entry, 160 acres. 

4th. That the widow, if unmarried, or in case of her death or marriage, 
then the minor orphan children, of a person who would be entitled to 
the benefits of section 2304, may enter land under its provisions, with 
the additional privilege accorded, that if the person died during his 
term of enlistment, the widow or minor children shall have the benefit 
of the whole term of enlistment. 

5th. That any person entitled to the benefit of section 2304 may file 



21 

his claim for a tracu of land through an agent, and shall have six months 
thereafter within which to make his entry and commence his settlement 
. and improvement ujDon the land. 

The following is the course of proceedings for parties to avail them- 
selves of the benefits of these sections of the Ee vised Satutes in making 
homestead entries : 

1st. On the party producing the proper proof of his right to do so, im- 
mediate entry of the tract desired may be made ; but if the party so 
elect, he may file a declaration (Form 4^273) to the effect that he claims 
a specified tract of land as his homestead, and that he takes it for actual 
settlement and cultivation. The register and receiver will number the 
declarations so filed in a separate series, according to the order of filing, 
enter them on their records, and with their monthly returns forward an 
abstract, to embrace all declarations of this class filed with them during 
the month. Thereafter, at any time within six months from the date of 
filing, the party may come forward, make his entry of the land (Forms 
of application and affidavits, 4-015 and 4-065) and commence his settle- 
ment and improvement. Should the party present his declaration 
through an agent as authorized by section 2309, said agent must pro- 
duce a duly executed power of attorney from the principal desiring to 
make the entry, who will be bound by the selection his a«ent may make 
the same as though made by himself. Where the i)arty has failed to 
make entry within six months from the date of filing, he is not theieby 
debarred from making entry of the tract filed for, unless some adverse 
right has intervened ; and if so he may enter some other tract that is 
still vacant. 

2d. The claims of widows and minor orphan children may be initiated 
by declaration, as above. Minor orphan children can act only by their 
duly appointed guardians, Avho must file certified copies of the powers of 
guardianship, which must be transmitted to this office by the registers 
and receivers with their abstracts of declarations. The law does not 
require, as a condition to enjoying its benefits, that the party should 
first file a declaratory statement, and, as before stated, immediate entry 
may be made. 

3d. Where a i3arty entitled desires to make an additional entry of a 
quantity which, with his original entry, shall not exceed one hundred 
and sixty acres, it is required that a full recital of mditary service be 
presented to this office, with due proof of the identity of the party mak- 
ing the claim, and with proper reference to his original homestead 
entry, giving the name of the district office, date and number of entry, 
and description of the land. In addition, a detailed statement, under 
oath, must be filed by the party in interest, setting forth the facts re- 
specting his right to make the entry, and containing his declaration 
that he has not in any manner exercised his right, either by previous 
entry or application, or by sale, transfer, or power of attornej^, but that 
the same remains in him unimpaired. He must also declare, under oath, 
that he has made full compliance with the homestead law in the matter 
of residence upon, cultivation and imj)rovement of, his original home- 
^ stead entry, and should further recite whether or not he has proved up 
his claim and received a patent of the land. 

When these papers are filed and examined, they will, if found satis- 
factory, be returned with a certificate attached recognizing the right of 
the party to make additional entry under the law ; and when presented 
with a proper application at any district land office, either by the party 
entitled or his agent or attorne^^, they will be accepted by the register 



22 

and receiver^ and forwarded witli the entry papers to tliis office in the 
usual manner. 

The fee for examination and certificate, under the seal of the office, 
will be $1, which must in all cases accompany the papers presented for 
approval. 

Where the party's first entry has been consummated, the register and 
receiver will require him to make api^licatiou in the form prescribed 
(No. 4-008), and to pay the same fee and commissions as in cases of original 
entry; the receiver will issue his receipt for the money paid, and these 
l)apers will receive the current date and the proper numbers in their 
homestead series. Then, to complete the transaction — it being an object, 
for the convenience of business, that the additional entry papers, and 
the final papers therefor, in such cases, shall be kept separate and dis- 
tinct — the party will make payment of the usual final commissions on 
the entered tract, lor which the receiver will issue his receipt: the reg- 
ister will thereupon issue his final certificate for the additional tract 
(Form 4- -197), the receipt and certificate to bear their proper numbers 
in the final homestead series, likewise a reference to the original entry and 
to the final certificate thereon by their number, and also by their district 
where the party's first entry shall have been made in a different district. 

In case the party has not made proof on his original homestead entry 
when he applies for additional land, he will be allowed to make the ad- 
ditional entry on proper application, as above stated, and paying the 
usual fee and commissions, for which the receiver will issue his receipt, 
the papers to receive their proper numbers in the homestead series, with 
a reference thereon to the original entry. Thereafter, when the party 
Ghall make final proof on the original entry, he will be required to pay 
the final commissions on both entries, when a final receipt will be issued 
for the money, and thereui^on a final certificate issued to call both for 
the tract in the original entry and the additional tract. On these papers 
the register and receiver will make aferefereuce to the original and the 
additional entry, and on them one patent will issue for both -, yet where 
it hapi:)ens that the original entry and the additional entry are made in 
different land districts, this rule must be departed from so far as regards 
the issuing of one final certificate and receipt for both. 

The following proof will be required of parties applying for the bene- 
fits of sections 2304, 2305, and 2307, in addition to the prescribed affi- 
davit of the applicant : 

1st. Certified copy of certificate of discharge, showing when the party 
enlisted and when he was discharged ; or the affidavit of two respect- 
able, disinterested witnesses corroborative of the allegations contained 
in the prescribed affidavit (Form 4-065) on these points, or, if neither 
can be procured, the party's affidavit to that effect. 

2d. In case of widows, the prescribed evidence of military service of 
the husband, as above, with affidavit of widowhood, giving "date of the 
husband's death. 

3d. In case of minor orphan children, in addition to the prescribed 
evidence of military service of the father, proof of death or marriage of 
the mother. Evidence of death may be the testimony of two witnesses, 
or certificate of a physician duly attested. Evidence of marriage maj 
be certified copy of marriage certificate, or of the record of same, or tes- 
timony of two Avitnesses to the marriage ceremony. 

The register and receiver will be allowed to charge one dollar each for 
receiving and filing the initiatory declaration of the parties in cases 
where such declarations are filed. This fee the receiver will account for 



23 

in tlie usual manner, indicating tlie same in liis account as fees for "home- 
stead declarations," whicli will be charged against the maximum of $3,000 
now allowed by law. In the States and Territories for which 50 per 
centum additional is allowed by the twelfth subdivisioD of section 2238 
of the Eevised Statutes, the additional allowance will apply to the fee 
herein named, viz: Cahfornia, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Colorado, 
Idaho, Xew Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, and Montana. 

Frovisions for tlie benefit of Indians. — The fifteenth and sixteenth sec- 
tions of the act of March 3, 1875 (copy attached, Xo. 9), extends the 
benefits of the homestead act of May 20, 18G2, and the acts amendatory 
thereof (now embodied in sections 2290, 2291, 2292, and 2295 to 2302, in- 
clusive, of the Eevised Statutes) to any Indian, born in the United 
States, who is the head of a family, or who has arrived at the age of 
twenty-one years, and who has abandoned, or may hereafter abandon, 
his tribal relations, with the exception that the provisions of the eighth 
section of said act of 1862 (section 2301 of the Eevised Statutes) shall 
not be held to apply to entries made thereunder, and with the proviso 
that the title to lands acquired by any Indian by virtue thereof shall 
not be subject to alienation or incumbrance, either by voluntary convey- 
ance, or the judgment, decree, or order of any court, and shall be and 
remain inalienable for a period of five years from the date of the patent 
issued therefor. 

An Indian desiring to enter i)ublic land under this act must make ap- 
plication to the register and receiver of the proper district land office ; 
also an affidavit setting forth the fact of his Indian character ; that he 
was born in the United States 5 that he is the head of a family or has 
arrived at the age of twenty-one years ; that he has abandoned his tribal 
relations and adopted the habits and pursuits of civilized life (Form 
4-079), and this must be corroborated by the affidavits of two or more 
disinterested witnesses (Form 4-077). 

If no objection appears, the register and receiver will then permit him 
to enter the tract desired according to existing regulations, so far as ap- 
plicable, under the homestead law, the register writing across the face 
of the application (Form 4-007) the words '^ Indian homestead — act of 
March 3, 1875 ; " they will note the entry on their records and mal^e re- 
turns thereof to this office, with which they will send the affidavits sub- 
mitted. It will be observed that the provisions of the eighth section of 
the act of May 20, 1862 (section 2301 of the Eevised Statutes), which 
admits of the commuting of homestead to cash entries, do not ai)ply to 
this class of homesteads. 

All lands obtaiued under the homestead laws are exempt from lia- 
bility for debts contracted prior to the issuing of patent therefor. 

For homestead entries on lands in Michigais^, Vv^isconsin, Iowa, Mis- 
souri, Mns^NESOTA, KAi^SAS, NEBRASKA, DAKOTA, ALAEA3IA, MiSSIS 



24 

sippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Florida, commissions and fees are 
to be paid according to tlie following table : 







Commissious. 


Fee. 




Acres. 


Price 

per 

acre. 








Total of fee and 


Payable when 


Payable wlien 


Payable when 


commissions. 






entry is made. 


certificate issues. 


entry is made. 




160 


$2 50 


$8 00 


^8 00 


$10 00 


$26 00 


riO 


2 50 


4 00 


4 00 


5 00 


13 00 


40 


2 50 


2 00 


2 00 


5 00 


9 00 


160 


1 25 


4 00 


4 00 


10 00 


18 00 


80 


1 25 


2 00 


2 00 


5 00 


9 CO 


40 


1 25 


1 00 


1 00 


5 00 


7 00 



In addition to the States and Territories above named, the same rates 
will apply to Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, if any vacant tracts can be 
found liable to entry in these three States, where but very few isolated 
tracts of i3ublic land remain undisposed of. 

In the Pacific and other political divisions, viz : on lands in Cal- 
ifornia, :n^evada, Oregon, Colorado, New Mexico, and Washing- 
ton, and in Arizona, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, and Montana, the 
commissions and fees are to be paid according to the following table : 





Price 


Commissions. 


Fee. 




Acres. 








Total of fee and 


acre. 


Payable ivhen 


Payable when 


Payable when 


commissions. 






entry is made. 


certificate issues. 


entry is made. 




160 


$2 50 


$12 00 


$12 00 


$10 00 


$34 00 


80 


2 50 


6 00 


6 00 


5 00 


17 00 


40 


2 50 


3 00 


3 00 


5 00 


11 00 


160 


1 25 


6 00 


6 00 


10 00 


22 00 


80 


1 25 


3 00 


3 00 


5 00 


11 00 


40 


1 25 


1 50 


1 50 


5 00 


8 00 



OHIO, INDIANA, AND ILLINOIS. 

In reference to disposals of any remnant of public lands in these 
States, it may be proper here to introduce the following regulations for 
the admission of entries by the Commissioner of the General Land Office^ 
under act of March 3, 1877, in States tchere there are no distinct land offices : 

The act of Congress of March 3, 1877, making appropriations for the 
legislative, executive, and judicial expenses of the government for the 
year ending June 30, 1878, provides : '' That public lands situated in 
States in which there are no land oflBces may be entered at the General 
Land Office subject to the provisions of law touching the entry of pubhc 
lands ', and that the necessary proofs and affidavits required in such 
cases may be made before some officer competent to administer oaths, 
whose official character shall be duly certified by the clerk of a court of 
record ; and moneys received by the Commissioner of the General Land 
Office for lands entered by cash entry shall be covered into the Treasury." 

Under these provisions the Commissioner of the General Land Oliice 
is prepared to perform the duties which by law were devolved upon 



25 

the registers and receivers of the district land offices at Chillicothe, 
Ohio ', Springfield, Illinois ; and Indianapolis, Indiana, prior to the aboli- 
tion of those offices by act of Congress of Jnly 31, 1876. 

In so doing, he T^ill receive applications accompanied by the purchase 
money, or fees and commissions, as the case may be, from parties de- 
siring to enter any isolated tracts which may remain undisi^osed of in 
said States, either from the parties i]i i^erson or through the mails, and 
in like manner any proof or payment iDroper to perfect entries already 
made, take the proper action thereon, and duly advise the parties in 
regular course of business. 

The following method will be observed in carrying into effect the pro- 
visions of the act : 

1st. A clerk has been designated by the Commissioner to receive and 
act upon the applications which may be ofibied for such entries, and to 
have charge of the correspondence connected therewith j all moneys re- 
ceived to go into the charge of the receiving clerk, designated under 
section 461 of the United States Eevised Statutes, and any moneys 
found to belong to the United States on the cases being finally passed 
upon to be turned over to the Treasury according to law. 

2d. Applications will be immediately entered in a preliminary abstract 
for each State in the order in which they are received 5 will be carefully 
examined in connection with the plats, files, and records, and admitted 
or rejected, according to the law and instructions governing the case. 
From such preliminary abstracts the admitted ax)i)lications will be car- 
ried to a regular monthly abstract, and the proper certificates and re- 
ceipts will be issued by the Commissioner, acting as ex officio register 
and receiver. The entries thus admitted will be properly posted in the 
tract books, and the papers therefor placed on file, for such further action 
as may be necessary. These entries will be numbered consecutively in 
continuation of the series entered upon at the respective district offices. 
The applicants will be promptly advised of the result of the examina 
tion, and, where the desired entries are admitted, will be furnished with 
the appropriate paper, to be held as evidence of title until the delivery 
of the patents. 

3d. In case of conflicting applications, that which is first received 
shall be first acted upon, as above directed, and will be considered as 
giving the api3licant the legal right to the tract applied for, if unexcep- 
tionable in other respects. 

LAWS TO PROMOTE TIjMBER CULTURE. 

The timber culture act of March 3, 1873, having been amended by the 
act of Marcii 13, 1874, the latter has been further amended by the act 
of June 14, 1878 (copy attached. Ko. 4). 

I. Certain provisions of the act of March 13, 1874, are repealed by 
the act of June 14, 1878. 

1. The act of March. 13, 1874, at the close of its first section, contains 
the following : ''Fromded^ That not more than one quarter of any section 
shall be thus granted, and that no person shall make more than one entry 
under the provisions of this act, unless fractional subdivisions of less 
than forty acres are entered, which, in the aggregate, shall not exceed 
one quarter section." In the act of June 14, 1878, the concluding words, 
'' unless Iractional subdivisions of less than forty acres are entered, 
which, in the aggregate, shall not exceed one quarter section," are 
omitted. Hence, the rule forbidding more than one entry is made uni- 
versal, and will govern in all future cases. 



26 

2. The provision of the act of March 13, 1874, requiring that the trees 
shall be not " more than twelve feet apart each way," is omitted from 
the act of June 14, 1878. The latter requires, however, that the final 
proof shall show "that not less than twenty-seven hundred trees were 
planted on each acre, and that at the time of making such proof there 
shall be growing at least six hundred and seventy-five living and thrifty 
trees to each acre." 

3. The closing sentence of the second section of the act of March 13, 
1874, provides that ''in case of the death of a person who has complied 
with the provisions of this act for the period of three years, his heirs or 
legal representatives shall have the option to comply with the provisions 
of this act, and receive, at the exijiration of eight years, a patent for 
one hundred and sixty acres, or receive, without delay, a patent for forty 
acres, relinquishing all claim to the remainder." This provision is not 
contained in the act of June 14, 1878. 

4. The following section of the act of March 13, 1874, relating to home- 
stead entries on which timber is cultivated, is omitted from the act of 
June 14, 1878 : 

Sec. 4. That each and every person who, under the provisions of the act entitled 
''An act to secure homesteads to actual settlers on the public domain," approved May 
20, 1862, or any amendment thereto, having a homestead on said public domain, who, 
at any time after the end of the third year of his or her residence thereon, shall, in 
addition to the settlement and improvements now required by law, have had under 
cultivation, for two years, one acre of timber, the trees thereon not being more than 
twelve feet apart each way, and in a good tlirifty condition, for each antl every sixteen 
acres of said homestead, shall, upon due proof of such fact by two credible witnesses, 
receive his or her patent for said homestead. 

, The rights of claimants under entries actually made according to the 
act of March 13, 1874, before the 14th June, 1878, when the amendatory 
act took effect, are not affected by the repeal of the provisions referred 
to. The parties interested, if they so elect, may consummate their en- 
tries according to the provisions of the act under which they were ini- 
tiated. And homestead entries made before the 14th June, 1878, will be 
patented according to the fourth section above quoted, where the facts 
are such as to bring the cases within its provisions, and the interested 
l^arties so desire. But entries made since that time must be adjusted 
according to the principles of the law as modified by the amendatory act. 
II. The principal points to be observed in proceedings thereunder may 
be stated as follows : 

1. The privilege of entry under the act of June 14, 1878, is confined 
to persons who are heads of families, or over twenty-one years of age, 
and who are citizens of the United States, or have declared their inten- 
tion to become such, according to the naturalization laws. 

2. The affidavit required for initiating an entry under the act of June 
14, 1878, may be made before the register or receiver of the district office 
for the land district embracing the desired tract, before the clerk of 
some court of record, or before any officer authorized to administer oaths 
in that district. 

3. Not more than ICO acres in any one section can be entered under 
this act, and no person can make more than one entry thereunder. 

4. The ratio of area required to be broken, planted, &c., in all entries 
under the act of June 14, 1878, Is one-sixteenth of the land embraced in 
the entry, except where the entered tract is less than 40 acres, in which 
case it is one-sixteenth of that quantity. The party making an entry of 
a quarter section, or 100 acres, is required to brealv or plow five acres 
covered thereby during the first year, and five acres in addition duriug 



27 

the second year. The five acres broken or plowed during the first year 
he is required to cultivate by raising a crop, or otherwise, during the 
second year, and to plant in timber, seeds, or cuttings during the third 
year. The five acres broken or plowed during the second year he is re- 
quired to cultivate by raising a crop, or otherwise, during the third year, 
and to plant in timber, seeds, or cuttings duriug the fourth year. The 
tracts embraced in entries of a less quantity than one quarter section are 
required to be broken or plowed, cultivated, and planted in trees, tree- 
seeds, or cuttings, during the same periods, and to the same extent, in 
proportion to their total areas, as are provided for in entries of a quarter 
section. Provision is made in the act for an extension of time in case 
the trees, seeds, or cuttings planted should be destroyed by grasshop- 
pers or by extreme and unusual drought. 

5. If, at the expiration of eight years from the date of entry, or at any 
time within five years thereafter, the person making the entry, or, if he 
be dead, his heirs or legal representatives, shall prove, by two credible 
witnesses, the planting, cultivating, and protecting of the timber for not 
less than eight years, according to the provisions of the act of June 14, 
1878, he or they will be entitled to a patent for the land embraced in 
the entry. The following classes of trees are recognized by this office as 
timber in the meaning of the law, viz : Ash, alder, birch, beech, black 
walnut, bass-wood, black locust, cedar, chestnut, cottonwood, elm, fir, 
including spruce j hickory, honey locust, larch, maple, including box 
elder ; oak, pine, plane tree, otherwise called cotton tree, buttonwood or 
sycamore ; service tree, otherwise called mountain ashj white walnut, 
otherwise called butternut j white willow, and white wood, otherwise 
called tulip tree. 

G. If, at any time after one year from the date of entry, and prior to 
the issue of a patent therefor, the claimant shall fail to comply with any 
of the legal requirements, then, and in that event, such entry will 
become liable to a contest in the manner provided in homestead cases, 
and upon due proof of such failure the entry will be canceled, and the 
land become again subject to entry under the homestead laws, or by some 
other person under the act of June 14, 1878. 

7. ISTo land acquired under the provisions of the act of June 14, 1878, 
will in any event become liable to the satisfaction of any debt or debts 
contracted prior to the issuing of the final certificate therefor. 

8. The fees for entries under the act of June 14, 1878, are $10 if the 
tract apj)lied for is more than 80 acres, and $5 if it is 80 acres or less ; 
and the commissions of registers and receivers on all entries (irrespective 
of area) are $4 ($2 to each) at the date of entry, and a like sum at the 
date of final proof. 

9. ISTo distinction is made, as to area or the amount of fee and commis- 
sions, between minimum and double-minimum lands. A party may 
enter 160 acres of either on payment of the prescribed fee and commis- 
sions. 

10. The fifth section of the act approved March 3, 1857, entitled ^' An 
act in addition to an act to punish crimes against the United States, 
and for other pur]3oses," is extended to all oaths, affirmations, and affi- 
davits required or authorized by the act of June 14, 1878. 

11. Parties who have already made entries under the timber culture 
acts of March 3, 1873, and March 13, 1874, of which the act of June 14, 
1 878, is amendatory, may complete the same by compliance with the 
requirements of the latter act -, that is, they may do so by showing, at 
the time of making their 6nal proof, that they have had under cultiva- 



28 

tion, as required by the act of June 14, 1878, an amount of timber suffi- 
cient to make the number of acres required thereby, being one-fourth 
the number required by the former acts. It will be sufficient for this if 
the parties show that of the entire area embraced in their respective 
entries they have cultivated in timber for the period required by the act 
of 1878 an area not less ttan one-sixteenth part, and that they have then 
growing upon such cultivated area the prescribed number of '' living 
and thrifty trees," viz, 6,750 where the entry is for 160 acres, 3,375 where 
it is for 80 acres, and 1,688 where it is for 40 acres or less. 

III. The following regulations are i)rescribed pursuant to the fifth 
section of the act of June 14, 1878, viz : 

1. The register and receiver will not restrict entries under this act to 
one quarter section only in each section, as was formerly done under the 
acts to w^hich this is amendatory, but may allow entries to be made of 
subdivisions of different quarters of the same section, provided that each 
entry shall form a compact body not exceeding 160 acres, and that not 
more than that quantity shall be entered in any one section. Before 
allowing any entry applied for, they will, by a careful examination of 
the plat and tract books with reference to any j)revious entry or entries 
within the limits of the same section, satisfy themselves that the desired 
entry is admissible under this rule. 

2. When they shall have satisfied themselves that the land applied for 
is properly subject to such entry, they will require the party to make 
the prescribed affidavit and to pay the fee and that part of the commis- 
sions payable at the date of entry, and the receiver will issue his receipt 
therefor, in duplicate, giving the x^arty a duplicate receipt. They wiU 
number the entrj' in its order in a separate series of numbers, unless 
they have already a series under the acts to which this act is amenda- 
tory, in which case they will number the entry as one of that series j 
they will note the entry on their records and report it in their monthly 
returns, sending up all the papers therein, with an abstract of the entries 
allowed during the month under this act. If the affidavit is made before 
a justice of the peace, which the act admits of, his official character and 
the genuineness of his signature must be certified under seal. 

3. When a contest is instituted, as contemplated in the third section 
of the act of June 14, 1878, the contestant will be allowed to make ap- 
X^lication to enter the land. The register will thereupon indorse on the 
application the date of its presentation, and will make the application 
and the contestant's affidavit setting forth the grounds of contest 
the basis for further i)roceedings, these papers to accompany the report 
submitting the case to the General Land Office. Should the contest re- 
sult in the cancellation of the contested entry the contestant may then 
perfect his own, but no preference right will be allowed under this sec- 
tion unless application is made by him at date of instituting contest. 
But reference is here made to the subsequent act of Congress (copy at- 
tached, No. 14), approved May 14, 1880, the provisions of which allowing 
preference rights apply to timber culture entries as well as to homesteads 
and pre-emptions. 

4. The fees and commissions in this class of entries the receiver will 
account for in the usual manner, indicating the same as fees and commis- 
sions on timber culture entries, which will be charged against the maxi- 
mum of $3,000 now allowed by law. 

5. In all cases under this act it will be required that trees shall be cul- 
tivated which shall be of the classes included in the term '' timher^^'' the 
cultivation of shrubbery and fruit trees not being sufficient. (See classes 
of trees before mentioned. 



29 

6. The applications, affidavits, and receipts in entries allowed under 
the act of June 14, 1878, will be made out according to the forms hereto 
attached, :N^os. 4-009, 4-073, and 4-142. 

The foregoing portion of this circular has reference to public lands 
which are agricultural in character. There are special laws for the dis- 
posal of desert lands^ saline lands, town sites on the public domain, and 
lands which are unfit for cultivation and valuable chiefly for timber or 
stone. 

DESERT LANDS. 

By desert lands is meant a class of lands which will not, without irri- 
gation, produce any agricultural crop. Land along streams and around 
bodies of water which produces grass suitable for hay without artificial 
irrigation is not desert land within the meaning of the law, and such 
lands are not subject to desert entry. Title to desert lands in any of the 
following States and Territories may be acquired under the act of Con- 
gress of March 3, 1877 (copy attached, ^o. 5), viz, the States of Cali- 
fornia, Oregon, and Nevada, and the Territories of Washington, Idaho, 
Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Arizona, New Mexico, and BaJcota. Any party 
desiring to avail himself thereof must file with the register and receiver 
of the j)roper district land office a declaration in form prescribed (N^o. 
4-274), which must be under oath, and may be executed before either the 
register or receiver or the clerk of any court of record having a seal. 
Jt must be set forth that the applicant is a citizen of the United States, 
or that he has declared his intention to become such, in which case a 
duly certified copy of his declaration of intention to become a citizen 
must be presented and filed. It must also be set up that the applicant 
has made no other declaration for desert lands under the provisions of this 
act, and that he intends to reclaim the tract of land applied for, not exceed- 
ing one section, by conducting water thereon within three years from the 
date of his declaration. The declaration must also Contain a description 
of the land applied for, by legal subdivisions if surveyed, or if unsur- 
veyed as neaily as possible without a survey by giving, with as much 
clearness and precision as possible, the locality of the tract with refer- 
ence to known and conspicuous landmarks or the established lines of 
survey, so as to admit of its being thereafter readily identified when the 
lines of survey come to be extended. 

The law requires desert entries to be compact in form. The require- 
ment of compactness will be held to be complied with on surveyed lands 
when a section, or part thereof, is described by legal subdivisions com- 
pact with each other, as nearly in the form of a technical section as the 
situation of the land and its relation to other lands will admit of, although 
parts of two or more sections be taken to make up the quantity or equiv- 
alent of one section. But entries which show upon their face an abso- 
lute departure from all reasonable requirements of compactness, and 
being merely contiguous by the joining of ends to each other, will not 
be admitted, whether on surveyed or on unsurveyed lands. 

On unsurveyed lands the degree of compactness required will be such 
as, upon the adjustment of the lines after survey, will bring the land 
within the limits and general form of a technical section, or i^art thereof, 
as nearly as may be. 

In no case will the side lines be permitted to exceed one mile and a 
quarter, when the full quantity of six hundred and forty acres is en- 



30 

tered. Wheu the entry embraces a less quantity than a whole section, 
or its equivalent, the limit to the side lines will be proportionately de- 
creased. 

Entries, whether by legal subdivisions on surveyed lands, or of an irreg- 
ular form on unsurveyed lands, running along the margins or including 
both sides of streams, and not being compact in any true sense, will not 
be permitted. 

As preliminary to the filing of the declaration, it must be satisfac- 
torily shown that the land therein described is desert laud as defined 
in the second section of the act. To this end, the testimony of at least 
two disinterested and credible witnesses is required, whose testimony 
will be reduced to writing in the usual manner; or the evidence may be 
furnished in the form of affidavits executed before the clerk of any court 
of record having a seal, the credibility of the witnesses to be certified 
by said clerk. The witnesses must clearly state their acquaiutance with 
the premises, and the facts as to the condition and situation of the land 
upon which they base their j udgment. A form of affidavit, to be sworn to 
and subscribed by each witness is attached (No. 4-074). Where the land is 
situated on the borders of streams or lakes evidence will also be required 
that the land in its natural state is not productive of hay. After proof 
has been made to the satisfaction of the district officers, the receiver 
will receive from the apx)licant the sum of twenty-five cents per acre for 
the land applied for ; the register will receive and file his declaration, 
and they will jointly issue, in duplicate, a certificate in the form at- 
tached (No. 4-199). One of these duplicates will be delivered to the appli- 
cant; the other will be retained by the register and receiver with the 
declaration and proof. They will bear a number according to the order 
in which the certificate was issued. The register will keep a record of 
the certificates issued, showing the number, date, amount paid, name 
of applicant, and description of the land applied for in each case, and, 
in addition, he will note the same upon his plats and records as in cases 
of ordinar3^ entry. At the end of each month he will, with his regular 
returns, forward to this office an abstract of the declarations filed and 
certificates issued under this act during the month, accompanying same 
with the declarations and proofs filed and the retained copy of certificate 
in each case. The receiver will also account for the money received 
under this act in the usual form. At any time within three years after 
the date of filing the declaration and the issue of certificate, the proper 
party may make satisfactory proof of having conducted water upon the 
land applied for. This proof must consist of the testimony of at least 
two disinterested and credible witnesses, who must appear in person 
before the register and receiver. They must declare that they have per- 
sonal knowledge of the condition of the land apx^lied for, and of the facts 
to which they testify; and their testimony must be reduced to writing in 
the usual maoner. (See Forms 4-372 and 4-373.) The party must also 
Ijresent and surrender the duplicate certificate issued when the declara- 
tion was filed. When this is done, and the final proof made to the 
satisfaction of the district officers, the receiver will receive the additional 
payment of one dollar per acre, receipt therefor in duplicate, as per Form 
4-143, and give the party a duplicate receipt. The register will also 
issue a final certificate of purchase (Form 4-200). They will gi\'e to these 
final certificates and receipts a special series of numbers, and will make 
separate abstracts of same at the end of each mouth, sending up there- 
with the final certificates, receipts, and proofs. 

In cases where declarations shall be filed under this act for unsur- 



31 

veyed lands, tlie register and receiver will immediately forward copies 
of the declarations to the surveyor general, in order that the proper 
surveys may be made. The claimants will be required to take their 
claims by legal subdivisions when the lines of public surveys shall have 
been extended over the same. 

SALINE LANDS. 

The act of Congress of January 12, 1877 (copy attached, No. 6), pro- 
vides a mode of proceeding by which public lands indicated, by the field- 
notes of survey or otherwise, to be saline in character may be rende ^ed 
subject to disposal. 

Should prima facie evidence that certain tracts are saline in character 
be filed with the register and receiver of the proper land district, tLey 
will designate a time for a hearing at their office, and give notice to all 
parties in interest, in order that they may have ample opportunity to be 
present with their witnesses. 

At the hearing the witnesses will be thoroughly examined with regard 
to the true character of the land, and whether the same contains any 
known mines of gold, silver, cinnabar, lead, tin, copper, or other valuable 
mineral deposit, or any deposit of coal. 

The witnesses will also be examined in regard to the extent of the 
saline deposits upon the given tracts, and whether the same are claimed 
by any person ; if so, the names of the claimants and the extent of their 
improvements must be shown. 

The testimony should also show the agricultural capacities of the land, 
what kind of crops, if any, have been raised thereon, and the value 
thereof. The testimony should be as full and complete as possible, and, 
in addition to the leading x)oints indicated above, everything of impor- 
tance bearing upon the question of the character of the land should be 
elicited at the hearing. 

The register and receiver will transmit the testimony to this office 
with their joint opinion thereon. When the case comes before this 
office, such a decision will be rendered in regard to the character of the 
land as the law and the facts may warrant. 

Shoidd the given tracts be adjudged agricultural, they will be subject 
to disposal as such. Should the tracts be adjudged saline lands, the 
register and receiver will be instructed to ofler the same for sale, after 
public notice, at the local land office of the district in which the same 
shall be situated, and to sell said tract or tracts to the highest bidder 
for cash, at a price not less than $1.25 per acre. 

In case said lands fail to sell when so oftered, the same will be sub- 
ject to private sale at such land office for cash, at a price not less than 
$1.25 per acre, in the same manner as other public lands are sold, and 
already indicated herein. 

The provisions of this act do not apply to any lands within the Ter- 
ritories, nor to any within the States of Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida, 
California, and Nevada, none of which have had a grant of salines by 
act of Congress. 

TOWN SITES. 

The eighth chapter of the Eevised Statutes of the United States, com- 
prising sections 2380 to 2394, and act of Congress of March 3, 1877 
(copies attached, Nos. 1 and 7), provide for the disposal of town sites on 
the public domain. 



32 

There are two metliods by wliicli title to such town property may be 
acquired, subject to the election of parties desiring to do so -, one pro- 
vided for in sections 2382, 2383, 2384, and 2385, and the other in sec- 
tions 2387, 2388, and 2389 of the Eevised Statutes of the United States. 
Tlie first method limits the extent of the area of the city or town to 640 
acres, to be laid oft' into lots, and which, after filing in the General Land 
Office the transcript, statement, and testimony required by section 2382, 
are to be offered at i)ublic sale to the highest bidder, at a minimum of 
ten dollars for each lot. Lots not thus disposed of are made thereafter 
liable to private entry at said minimum, or at such reasonable price as 
the Secretary of the Interior may order from time to time, as the mu- 
nicipal proijerty may increase or decrease, after at least three months' 
notice. 

A ijrivilege, however, is granted to any actual settler upon any one lot 
of preempting that, and any additional lot on which he may have '^ sub- 
stantial improvements," at said minimum, at any time before the day 
fixed for the public sale. 

There are, however, certain preliminary conditions to be complied 
with in order to the enjoyment of the privileges granted in this section. 
Parties who have already founded, or may hereafter found, a citj" or 
town are required — 

1 St. To tile with the recorder of the county in which the town or city 
is situate a plat thereof, not exceeding 640 acres, describing its exterior 
boundaries according to the lines of the public surveys, where such 
surveys have been executed. 

2d. Also the plat or map of such city or town must exhibit the name 
of the city or town, the streets, squares, blocks, lots, and alleys -, the 
size of the same, with measurements and area of each municipal subdi- 
vision, the lots in which shall each not exceed 4,200 square feet, with a 
statement of the extent and general character of improvements. 

3d. Further, the said map and statement to be verified by oath by 
the party acting for and in the behalf of the founders of the city or town. 

4th. Within one month after filing the map or plat with the recorder 
of the county a verified copy of said map and statement is to be sent 
to the General Land Office, accompanied by the testimony of two wit- 
nesses that such city or town has been established in good faith. 

5th. Where the city or town is within the limits of an organized land 
district, a similar copy of the map and statement must be filed with the 
register and receiver. 

Section 2383 provides for cities or towns founded on unsiirveyed land, 
and directs that it may be lawful to adjust the exterior limits of the 
premises with the lines of the public surveys, where it can be done 
without impairing the rights of others. It also provides for the issue 
of patents for lots disposed of under these provisions as in ordinary 
cases. 

Section 2384 authorizes the Secretary of the Interior, in case the 
parties interested shall fail or refuse, within twelve months of the found- 
ing of a city or town on the public domain, to file in the General Land 
Office a copy of the map, with the statement and testimony called for 
by section 2382, to cause a survey and plat to be made of the said city 
or town, and tliereafter the lots to be sold, as provided, at an increase of 
fifty per cent, on the minimum price often dollars per lot. 

Sections 2387, 2388, and 2380 grant to the inhal3itants of cities and 
towns on the public lands the ])rivilege of entering the lands occupied 
as town sites at the minimum price of one dollar and twenty-five cents 



33 

per acre, through the corporate authorities of such towns and cities, or 
the judges of the county courts, acting as trustees for the occupants 
thereof. 

This privilege is granted where such mode of obtaining title to town 
property is preferred to that provided in sections 2382, 2383, 2384, and 
2385, which are not repealed by the former sections. The inhabitants 
of these towns or cities are limited, however, to one or the other of the 
modes provided in these statutes, and cannot commence proceedings 
under both systems. 

The provisions of sections 2382, 2383, 2384, and 2385 were originally 
embodied in the acts of Congress of July 1, 1864, and March 3, 1865; 
those of sections 2387, 2388, and 2389 in the act of March 2, 1867. Sec- 
tion 2394 is a re-enactment of the act of June 8, 1868.. It has reference 
to cases where the inhabitants of cities or towns proceeded to act under 
the provisions of the acts of July 1, 1864, and March 3, 1865, prior to* 
June 22, 1874, the date of the Eevised Statutes, and in which they have 
partly proved up and paid for the lots claimed by them according to said 
acts. It provides for extending the privilege of sections 2387, 2388, and 
2389, if the town authorities in any such case should elect to proceed 
under them, to such of the inhabitants as may not have paid for their 
lots, without interfering with the issuing of patents to those who had 
made or might make entries or elect to proceed under the acts of July 
1, 1864, and March 3, 1865, or sections 2382, 2383, 2384, and 2385 of the- 
Eevised Statutes. Accordingly, should any case be presented where 
proceedings had been commenced, as aforesaid, by the inhabitants of 
any town or city before the date indicated, and a part of them, not hav- 
ing entered and paid for their lots, desire to take advantage of the other 
system referred to, the^^ would be entitled under section 2394, on appli- 
cation to the register and receiver of the proper district office, througli 
the town authorities, pursuant to the provisions of sections 2387, 2388, 
and 2389, to enter or file upon such portion of the town site as has not 
already been entered and paid for, and is not in possession of parties 
electing to complete their titles under the original proceedings 5 after 
which, that part of the town site so entered or filed upon will be dis- 
posed of under the last-mentioned sections, and the remaining portion, 
if any, under sections 2382, 2383, 2384, and 2385. Section 2394 has no 
reference to any case in which proceedings for acquiring title to the town, 
site were commenced subsequent to June 22, 1874, the inhabitants in all 
such cases being restricted to the method of acquiring title according 
to which they may have commenced to act. 

Section 2394 further provides that, in addition to the minimum price 
of the lands included in any town site entered under its provisions and 
those of sections 2387, 2388, and 2389, there shall be paid by the parties 
availing themselves thereof all costs of surveying and platting any such 
town site, and expenses incident thereto, incurred by the United States, 
before any patent therefor shaU issue. Hence, when it is desired to enter 
a town site found upon the unsurveyed public lands, a written applica- 
tion should be presented to the surveyor-general of the proper district 
for a survey of the same under section 2401 of the Eevised Statutes, and 
the amount estimated by him as sufficient to cover the said cost and ex- 
penses deposited with any assistant United States treasurer or desig- 
nated depositary in favor of the United States Treasurer, to be passed 
to the credit of the fund created by "individual depositors for the survey 
of the public lands," the depositor taking a duplicate certificate of de- 
posit, one to be filed with the surveyor general to be sent to the General 
3 cm 



34 

Land Office, and the other retained by the depositor. On receiving 
such certificate, showing that the requisite sum has been deposited in 
a proper manner to pay for the work, the surveyor general will transmit 
to the register and receiver of the district land office his certificate of 
such payment having been made, and will contract with a competent 
United States deputy surveyor and have the survey made and returned 
in the same manner as other public surveys, after which the lands em- 
braced within the site may be entered, or filed upon, as in the case of 
town sites upon surveyed lands. 

When town sites are located upon land already surveyed, the entry 
must be made in conformity to the legal subdivisions of the public lands, 
and here no costs in regard to past surveys will be exacted. When sites 
are upon unsurveyed land, it will be necessary, after the extension thereto 
■ of the public survey, to close those lines upon the exterior limits of the 
-town site. 

Section 2389, it will be observed, stipulates that there shall be con- 
ceded, where the number of inhabitants is one hundred and less than 
two hundred, not exceeding three hundred and twenty acres ; where the 
population is more than two hundred and less than one thousand, not 
exceeding six hundred and forty acres ; and where the inhabitants num- 
ber one thousand and over, not exceeding twelve hundred and eighty 
acres; and for each additional one thousand inhabitants, not exceeding 
.five thousand in all, a further grant of three hundred and twenty acres. 

All military and other reservations of the United States, private 
, grants, and valid mining claims are excluded from the operarion of these 
town-site laws. In patents issued thereunder it is expressly declared 
as follows, viz : " 1:^0 title shall be hereby acquired to any mine of gold, 
silver, cinnabar, or copper, or any valid mimng claim or possession held 
under existing laws of Congress. ' (Section 2392, Revised Statutes.) 

In any Territory in Avhich a land office may not have been established 
the declaratory statements provided for in the foregoing statutes may 
be filed with the surveyor general of the proper district. 

In the act of Congress of March 3, 1877, section 1 restricts the amount 
of land that can be reserved from pre-emption and homestead entry, by 
reason of the existence or incorporation of a town upon the public do- 
main, to 2,560 acres, unless the excess shall ^'be actually settled upon, 
inhabited, improved, and used for business and municipal purposes." 

Section 2 confirms pre-emption and homestead entries already made 
within the corporate limits of a town, the entries being regular in all 
respects, provided it shall be satisfactorily shown that the lands so en- 
tered are '^not settled upon or used for any municipal purpose, nor de- 
voted to any public use of such town." 

Section 3 provides that, when it shall appear that the corporate limits 
of a town embrace land sin excess of the maximum quantity allowed, the 
proper authorities may select those portions that are actually occupied, 
used, and improved for municipal i3urposes, which lands shall be re- 
served from pre-emption and homestead entry, and the residue will be 
restored, or become subject to such settlement and entry. This selection 
must be made within sixty days from notice, and in default thereof a 
hearing will be ordered and testimony taken as to the condition of the 
land, and such portion set apart as shall appear to be within the mean- 
ing of the act. 

The fourth section, with the proviso to the second section, provides 
for additional entries by towns, where entries have already been made, 



35 

in cases in which an increase in the number of inhabitants would en- 
title them to an entry of a larger area under section 2389 of the Ee vised 
Statutes of the United States, such entries, however, to be within the 
maximum amount, or 2,560 acres. 

STONE AND TIMBER LANDS. 

The first, second, and third sections of the act of Congress of June 3, 
1878 (copy attached, No. 8), provide for the sale of surveyed lands in 
California, Oregon, Nevada, and in Washington Territory not yet pro- 
claimed and offered at public sale, valuable chiefly for timber and stone, 
unfit for cultivation, and consequently for disposal under the pre-emp- 
tion and homestead laws. When a party applies to purchase a tract 
thereunder, the register and receiver will require him to make affidavit 
that he is a citizen of the United States by birth or naturalization, or 
that he has declared his intention to become a citizen under the natu- 
ralization laws. If native born, parol evidence of that fact will be re- 
ceived. If not native born, record evidence of the prescribed qualifica- 
tion must be furnished. In connection therewith, he will be required to 
make the sworn statement in duplicate, according to the attached form, 
No. 4-537, as provided for in the second section of the act. One of the 
duplicate statements filed in each is by the act required to be transmit- 
ted to this office, and the registers and receivers will accordingly send 
up with their monthly returns the duplicate statements to be transmit- 
ted for the month. 

The evidence in regard to the publication of notice required to be fur- 
nished, in the third section of the act, must consist of the affidavit of the 
publisher or other person having charge of the newspaper in which the 
notice is published, with a copy of the notice attached thereto, setting 
forth the nature of his connection with the paper, and that the notice 
was duly published for the prescribed period. The evidence required in 
the same section with regard to the non-mineral character of the land, 
and its unoccupied and unimproved condition, must consist of the testi- 
mony of at least two disinterested witnesses, to the effect that they know 
the facts to which they testify from personal inspection of the land and 
.of each of its smallest legal subdivisions, as per form attached, No. 4-371. 
This testimony may be taken before the register or receiver, or any offi- 
cer using an official seal and authorized to administer oaths in the land 
district in which the land lies. Upon such proof being produced, if no 
adverse claim shall have been filed, the entry applied for may be allowed 
in pursuance of the provisions of the act. The receiver will issue his 
receipt for the purchase money, and the register his certificate of pur- 
chase, numbering the entry in the regular cash series. (Forms of appli- 
cation, receipt, and certificate are attached, Nos. 4-001, 4-131, and 4-189.) 
The register and receiver will enter the sale on their books, and make the 
usual returns therefor to this office, noting on the monthly abstracts, oppo- 
site the entry, and on the entry papers, a reference to the act of Congress 
under which allowed. They will forward all the papers in the case with 
their returns to this office, except the retained duplicate statement filed 
under the second section of the act, to which the register will give the 
same number with the other papers for the entry, and retain it on the 
appropriate file with the formal application in his office. 

The register and receiver will be entitled to a fee of five dollars each 
for allowing an entry under said act, and jointly at the rate of twenty- 



36 

two cents and a half per hundred words for testimony reduced by them 
to writing for claimants, which will be accounted for as other fees. 

If, at the expiration of the sixty days' notice provided for in the third 
section of the act, an adverse claim should be found to exist calling for 
an investigation, the register and receiver will allow the parties a hear- 
ing according to the rules of practice. 

In case of an association of i)ersons making application for such an 
entry, each of the persons must prove the requisite qualifications, and 
their names must appear in and be subscribed to the sworn statement, 
as in case of an individual person. They must also unite in the regular 
application for entry, which will be made in their joint names as in other 
cases of joint cash entry. The forms i^rescribed for cases of applications 
by individual persons may be adapted for use in applications of this 
class. 

REPAYMENTS. 

The recent act of Congress, approved June 16, 1880 (copy attached, 
No. 17), being additional to the provisions of sections 23G2 and 2363 
Eevised Statutes United States (also attached, No. 1), provides in its 
first section for the repayment 'Ho innocent parties" of the fees, com- 
missions, &c., paid by them on fraudulent and void additional soldier's 
and sailor's homestead entries which have been canceled. 

Applications for repayment under this section must be accompanied 
by the duplicate receipt, or evidence of the loss of the same, and by a 
concise statement under oath setting forth aU the facts and circum- 
stances connected with the procurement and use of the fraudulent 
papers upon which the canceled entries were based, together with such 
documentary or other proof as may tend to establish the tunocence of 
the parties relative thereto. 

Eepayment of fees, commissions, and excesses under section 1 can be 
made only to the party who paid the same. A conveyance of the land 
in these cases will not be deemed to carry with it the right to repayment. 

The second section of the act provides, 1st, for the repayment of pur- 
chase money and of fees, commissions, and excess payments, where en- 
tries of public lands are canceled for conflict, "or where, from any cause, 
the entry has been erroneoasly allowed and cannot be confirmed ;" and, 
2d, for the repayment of the excess purchase money paid on lands sold 
at double minimum prices which are afterwards found to have been 
salable at $1.25 per acre. 

Under section 2362 of the Eevised Statutes, repayment is authorized 
upon satisfactory proof '' that any tract of land has been erroneously 
sold by the United States, so that from any cause the sale cannot be 
confirmed," while in section 2 of the act of June 16, 1880, it is provided 
that the Secretary of the Interior shall cause repayment to be made 
" when, from any cause, the entry has been erroneously allowed and 
cannot be confirmed." 

Under the former law repayment was not authorized when the sale 
could be confirmed but for failure of compliance with legal requirements 
on the part of the person making the same. The act aforesaid seems to 
change tbe old law in this, that it authorizes repayment, when, from any 
cause, the entry has been erroneously allowed and cannot be confirmed. 

If the records of the Land OfiSce or the proofs furnished should show 
that the entry ought not to be allowed, it would be error to allow it. In 



37 

such, a case repayment would be authorized. But if a tract of land were 
subject to entry and the proofs showed a compliance with law, and the 
entry should be canceled because the proofs were false, it could not be 
held that the entry was erroneously allowed, and in such a case repay- 
ment would not be authorized. 

In cases of applications for repayment under the second section, where 
patent has not been issued, the duplicate receipt must be surrendered. 
The ai)plicant must also make affidavit that he has not transferred or 
otherwise encumbered the title to the land, and that said title has not 
become a matter of record. This affidavit may be made before either 
the register or receiver of the district land office, or before a notary pub- 
lic or a justice of the peace, or other officer authorized to administer 
oaths. When made before a notary public or justice of the peace a cer- 
tificate of official character is required. If the duplicate receipt has 
been lost or destroyed the party applying must advertise it, giving 
notice of his intention to apply for a repayment of the i)urchase money. 
This advertisement must be inserted weekly for six weeks in some news- 
paper of extensive circulation in the vicinity of the land. A copy of thp 
advertisement, with the affidavit of the publisher that it was inserted 
the requisite number of times attached thereto, must accompany the 
papers in the case. Where the duplicate receipt has been lost or de- 
stroyed, a certificate will also be required from the proper recording 
officer showing that the same has not become a matter of record, and 
that there is no encumbrance of the title to the land thereunder. A like 
certificate must be furnished when the application is made by another 
than the original purchaser. Where a patent has been executed and 
delivered it must be surrendered. Where the title has become a matter 
of record, and in all cases where patent has issued, a duly executed deed, 
relinquishing to the United States all right and claim to the land under 
the entry or patent, must accompany the application. This deed must 
be duly recorded, and a certificate must also be produced from the proper 
recording officer where the land is situated, showing that said deed is 
so recorded, and that the records of his office do not exhibit any other 
conveyance or encumbrance of the title to the land. Where a valid title 
has been conveyed by the United States to any part of the tract em- 
braced in a canceled entry, a duly executed and recorded deed, recon- 
veying to the United States the title derived therefrom, must accom- 
pany the application. The reconveyance to the United States must con- 
form in every particular to the laws of the State relative to transfers of 
real property j in the case of a married man, a release of dower by the 
wife, and in case of executors or administrators, due proof of authority 
to alienate the estate. Where application is made by heirs, satisfactory 
proof of heirship is required. This must be the best evidence that can 
be obtained, and must show that the parties applying are the heirs and 
the only heirs of the deceased. Where application is made by executors, 
a certificate of executorship froui the probate court must accompany 
the application. Where api)lication is made by administrators, the 
original, or a certified copy of the letters of administration, must be 
furnished. 

Those persons are assignees, within the meaning of the statutes au- 
thorizing the repayment of purchase money, who purchase the land after 
the entries thereof are completed and take assignments of the title 
under such entries prior to comi)lete cancellation thereof, when the 
entries fail of confirmation for reasons contemplated by the law. To 



58 

construe said statutes so as to recognize the assignment or transfer of 
the mere claim against tlie United States for repayment of purchase 
money, or fees and commissions, disconnected from a sale of the land or 
attempted transfer of title thereto, would be against the settled policy of 
the government and repugnant to section 3477 of the Eevised Statutes. 
Where applications are made by assignees, the applicants must show 
their right to repayment by furnishing properly authenticated abstracts 
of title, or the original deeds or instruments of assignment, or certified 
copies thereof, and also show by affidavits or otherwise that they have 
not been indemnified by their grantors or assignors for the failure of 
title, and that title has not been i)erfected in them by their grantors 
through other sources. Where there has been a conveyance of the land 
and the original purchaser applies for repayment, he must show that 
he has indemnified his assignee or perfected the title in him through 
another source, or produce a full reconveyance to himself from the last 
grantee or assignee. In the case of applications for the repayment of 
fees, commissions, &c., on canceled homestead and other entries, under 
1»he second section of the act, the duplicate receipt must be surrendered 
with a relinquishment of all right, title, and claim in and to the land 
described in the receipt indorsed thereon, attested by two witnesses, and 
acknowledged before the register and receiver or before any ofiScer au- 
thorized to take acknowledgments. If the duplicate receipt has been 
lost or destroj^ed an affidavit stating the fact must be furnished, to- 
gether with a relinquishment of the character indicated. The appli- 
cant must make affidavit that he has not made another entry with the 
credit of the fee and commission paid by him on the canceled entry. 

In the case of applications for the repayment of double minimum 
excesses, the duplicate receipt must be surrendered. If lost or destroyed, 
an affidavit stating the facts must accompany the application. 

All applications for repayment under the above provisions must be 
made in writing and be signed by the party applying, and must describe 
the tract or otherwise designate the entry with certainty. They should 
be transmitted with all the papers in the case through the register and 
receiver of the proper district land office, who will make due report 
thereon. 

PRESENTATION OF APPEALS. 

Any person making application to file upon or enter a tract of public 
land, having complied with the law and regulations touching the pre- 
sentation of such applications, and feeling aggrieved by the refusal of the 
register and receiver to recognize his claim, or by any order, direction, 
or condition affecting the same, may appeal from the action of those 
officers to the Commissioner of the General Land Office, who is by law 
invested with the supervision and control of all matters relating to the 
disposal of the public lands, subject to the direction of the Secretary of 
the Interior. (Kevised Statutes, sections 453 and 2478.) 

For the purpose of enabling such appeal to be taken and perfected, the 
register and receiver will indorse upon the WTitten application the date 
when presented and their reasons for refusing it, promptly advising the 
party in interest of the facts, and note upon their records a memorandum 
of the transaction. The x)arty aggrieved will then be allowed thirty days 
from the receipt of notice of such action within which to file his appeal 
to the Commissioner. 



39 

The appeal must be in writing, definitely setting forth in clear and 
concise terms the specific points of exception to the decision appealed 
from, and the reason or reasons upon which such exceptions are based. 

Of the sufficiency of such appeal this office will be the judge, and will 
dismiss from further notice any case wherein the appeal is based upon 
frivolous grounds, or where the proper formalities and grounds are want- 
ing, unless, in the record itself, either of the case or upon the books 
of this office, some sufficient cause shall be found for further considera- 
tion under the general i^ower of supervision vested in the Commissioner 
by law. 

Upon objection to the finding of this office regarding an appeal, the 
matter will be reported to the honorable Secretary of the Interior for his 
direction therein. 

The appeal must in all cases be filed with the district officers, to be 
forwarded by them with a full report of the case to this office. 

This report should recite the proceedings had, to wit : The application 
and rejection, with the reasons therefor, and also the status of the tract 
involved, as shown by the records of the office, together with a refer- 
ence to all entries, filings, annotations, memoranda, and correspondence 
shown by such record relating thereto, so as to direct the attention of 
the Commissioner to all the material facts and issues necessary to a 
proper determination of the questions presented. 

No appeal from the decision of the register and receiver will be re- 
ceived at the General Land Office unless forwarded through the local 
officers in the manner herein prescribed. 

The report should be forwarded at once upon the filing of the appeal, 
except in contested cases after regular hearing, when, unless all parties 
request its earlier transmission, it should not be made until the expira- 
tion of the thirty days included in the notice, in order that all parties 
may have full opportunity to examine the record and prepare their argu- 
ment upon the questions at issue. All documents once rcjceived must be 
kept on file with the cases, and no papers wdll be allowed under any cir- 
cumstances to be removed fi'om such files or taken from the custody of 
the register and receiver j but access to the same under proper rules, so 
as not to interfere with necessary public business, should be permitted 
to the parties in interest, under the supervision of those officers. 

Upon any question relating to the disposal of the public lands, appeal 
from the decision of the Commissioner of the General Land Office will 
lie to the Secretary of the Interior (Eevised Statutes, sections 441, 2273), 
except in cases of interlocutory orders and decisions and orders for 
hearing, or other matters resting in the sound discretion of the Commis- 
sioner. Such latter cases constitute matters of exception, which should 
be noted, and they will be considered by the Secretary on review. 

The appeal is required to be made in w^riting, fairly and specifically 
stating the points of exception to the decision appealed from, and must 
be filed either with the register and receiver for transmission, or with 
the Commissioner, within sixty days from receipt, by the party or his 
attorney, of the notice of the decision. 

After appeal is filed, the fact of its receipt and pendency will be 
promptly communicated to the district office and to the parties, and thirty 
days from service of such notice will be allowed for the filing of argu- 
ment on the points involved in the controversy. At the expiration of 
the time prescribed, the papers and record will be forwarded to the Sec- 
retary of the Interior. AU arguments shall be filed with the Commis- 



40 

sioner within the time specified in the notice, in order that they may be 
referred to and considered in transmitting the case to the Secretary, if 
deemed expedient by the Commissioner. Examination of cases on ap- 
peal to the Secretary will be facilitated by filing in printed form such 
argument as it is desired to have considered. 

Decisions of the Commissioner not appealed from within the period 
prescribed become final, and the case will be regularly closed. (Revised 
Statutes, section 2273.) 

The decision of the Secretary is necessarily final, so far as respects the 
action of the Executive. 

REGISTERS AND RECEIVERS. 

It is the duty of the registers and receivers to be in attendance at 
their offices, and give proper facilities and information to persons api3ly- 
ing for lands. 

Within three days from the close of each month they are required to 
make out and transmit to the General Land Of&ce a statement of the 
business of their respective offices for the preceding month. 

These reports are in the form of abstracts of pre-emption declarations 
and of soldiers' declarations filed, abstracts of lands sold, abstracts of 
homesteads entered, abstracts of timber culture entries allo'wed, abstracts 
of military bounty land warrants and of agricultural college scrip located, 
accompanied by the certificates of purchase, receivers' receipts, home- 
stead and timber culture applications and affidavits, military bounty 
land warrants and agricultural college scrip surrendered as satisfied, 
and the certificates of location thereof. Names of parties must be 
clearly and legibly written in these papers to correspond with the sig- 
nature to every application ; and when spelled in two or more ways, or 
illegibly written by the person signing, the register must ascertain by 
proper inquiry the correct orthography and certify to the same upon 
the margin of the certificate. 

The abstracts, after being carefully examined by the register and 
receiver, are to be certified by them as correct and as in conformity 
with the papers in the entries or locations embraced therein and with 
their records, which papers, abstracts, and records must agree with 
each other. 

The receiver is required also to render promptly a monthly account of 
all moneys received^ showing the balance due the government at the 
close of each month. 

At the end of every quarter he must also transmit a quarterly account 
as receiver; upon the several accounts an adjustment is here made, and 
submitted to the Treasury Department for final settlement. 

He must also render a quarterly disbursing account of all moneys 
expended. 

He is required to deposit the moneys received by him at some de- 
pository designated by the Secretary of the Treasury, when the amount 
on hand shall have reached the sum of one thousand dollars; and in no 
case is he authorized, without special instructions, to hold a larger 
amount in his hands. 

Registers and receivers of the land offices are not authorized by law 
to make any charges for their services in accepting or entering pre- 
emption or homestead claims, other than such as are herein set forth. 
By section 2242 of the Revised Statutes it is, among other things, pro- 
vided that upon satisfactory proof that either of said officers has charged 



41 

or received fees or other rewards not authorized by law, he shall forth- 
with be removed from office. To them, their official clerks and em- 
ployes, and to those intimately and confidentially related to them, or 
their official clerks and employes, it is forbidden to make entries of 
public lands at the district offices with which they are respectively 
connected. 

Laws and instructions relating to mining claims form the subject of 
a separate circular. 

J. A. WILLIAMSON, 
Commissioner of the General Land Office. 



42 



[Ko.l.] 

REVISED STATUTES OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Title xl— DEPAETxMEXT OF THE INTEEIOR.— Ch. 3. 



?5"Sfi8l'2T"'STTv. Sec. 453. The Commissioner of the General Land- 
^'ijuiy. 1836,1 352, 8. i,v. Office shall i)erform, under the direction of the Secre- 
^' p- ^°^- ' tary of the Interior, all executive duties appertaining 

to the surveying and sale of the public lands of the United States, or 
in anywise respecting such public lands, and, also, such as relate to pri- 
vate claims of land, and the issuing of patents for all agents [grants] ot 
land under the authority of the Government. 



Title xxxii.— THE PUBLIC LANDS.— Ch. 2. 

REOISTERS AND RECEIVERS. 

and'recliv«r* °^ '''"''" SECTION 2234. Thcrc shall be appointed by the Presi- 

land-'disuicfs''' "'*"^^''^^"« dent, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, 

a register of the land-office and a receiver of public moneys, for each 

land-district established by law. 

refeu'et"'" °^ "■"''''"' ''"'^ Sec. 2235. Evcry register and receiver shall reside at 

and'us\ric?r "^'^^''^^^"^ thc placc whcrc the land-office for which he is appointed 

is directed by law to be kept. 

cewer!^ "^ ''''''"" """^ '"" ^EC. 2236. Evcry register and receiver shall, before 

v/V?p.' 7^75.^^^; entering on the duties of his office, give bond in the 

1853,' c. 145, J. 5, V. 10, p. 245.' p^jjai gm^ ^f ^gjj thousaud dollars, with approved 

security, for the faithful discharge of his trust. 

J^lf °*^''"-'^'''' =»"'^ '-'• Sec 2237. Every register and receiver shall be allowed 

i2?i. 409/ Tipr'!' 1818,;: a^ auuual salary of five hundred dollars. 

123, V. 3, p. 466. ' 

Fees and commissions ot 
register and receiver. 

4 Sept., 1841, c. 10, p. 12, v. 
5, p. 456. 21 Mar., 1864, c. 
38, s. 4, V. 13, p. 35. 



Sec. 2238. Eegisters and receivers, in addition to their 
salaries, shall be allow^ed each the following fees and 
commissions, namely : 
First. A fee of one dollar for each declaratory statement filed, and for 
services in acting on pre-emx>tion claims. 

^2^0 April, 1818, c. 123, V. 3, Sccoud. A commlssiou of one per centum on aU 
moneys received at each receiver's office. 

v.^isf p^'as.' ^lo M-,y,'^?862, c! Third. A couimissiou to be paid by the homestead 
ju'iy^i8%,".^294,s':2t^;.i6! applicaut, at the time of entry, of one per centum on 
^■^^^- ' ' • ' ^jjg (ja^gi^ price, as fixed bylaw, of the land api)lied for; 
and a like commission when the claim is finally established, and the 
certificate therefor issued as the basis of a patent. 
V. ^17^1^606!^'^' "' ^""' '■ ^' Fourth. The same commission on lands entered under 
any law to encourage the growth of timber on western prairies, as 
allowed when the like quantity of land is entered with money. 
v''w^rl'Tk\;,^!mi,l: Fifth. For locating military bounty-land warrants 
130, 8. 7, V. 12, p. 5o'5. ' issued since the eleventh day of February, eighteen 
hundred and forty-seven, and for locating agricultural college land- 



43 

scrip, the same commission to be paid by the holder or assignee of each 
warrant or scrip, as is allowed for sales of the public lands for cash, at 
the rate of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre. 

Sixth. A fee, in donation cases, of five doUars for each 12?°. m' ''''' " ''' " '' ^' 
final certificate for one hundred and sixty acres of land ; ten dollars for 
tliree hundred and twenty acres ; and fifteen dollars for six hundred and 
forty acres. 

Seventh. In the location of lands by States and cor- isJp.^iS/'^' "''''"''" 
porations under grants from Congress for railroads and other purposes, 
(except for agricultural colleges,) a fee of one dollar for each final loca- 
tion of one hundred and sixty acres ; to be paid by the State or corpora- 
tion making such location. 



Eighth. A fee of five dollars per diem for superin- 



24 April, 
p. 567. 



tending public-land sales at their respective offices; [and to each receiver, 
mileage in going to and returning from depositing the public moneys 
received by him.]* 

Mnth. A fee of five dollars for filing and acting upon v.WK'5.'^^'' '''''''" '"' 
each application for patent or adverse claim filed for mineral lands, to 
be paid by the respective parties. 

Tenth. Eegisters and receivers are allowed, jointly, at v.^iVJfaa'?' ^®"' "' ^^' ^ *' 
the rate of fifteen cents per hundred words for testimony reduced by them 
to writing for claimants, in establishing pre-emption and homestead rights. 

Eleventh. A like fee as provided in the preceding v. WJ'k''^'' " '''''' ''' 
subdivision when such writing is done in the land-office, in establishing 
claims for mineral lands. 

Twelfth. Eegisters and receivers in California, Oregon, v.Y3,^?3t'aid^t'evefai -ict 
Washington, Nevada, Colorado, Idaho, IS'ew Mexico, uS'tv^mS anrMo°a' 
Arizona, Utah,Wyoming, and Montana, are each entitled ^^"'^ 
to collect and receive fifty per centum on the fees and commissions pro- 
vided for in the first, third, and tenth subdivisions of this section. 

Sec. 2239. The register for any consolidated land-dis- cefv^ iCr coToli5at'ed^a^d■ 
trict, in addition to the fees now allowed by law, shall °^iTFeh., ism, c. ss, ss. 1 
be entitled to charge and receive for making transcripts ^' '• ^^' ^- ^^^■ 
for individuals, or furnishing any other record information respecting 
pubUc lands or laud-titles in his consolidated land-district, such fees as 
are properly authorized by the tariff existing in the local courts of his 
district; and the receiver shall receive his equal share of such fees, and 
it shall be his duty to aid the register in the i)reparation of the tran- 
scripts, or giving the desired record information. 

Sec. 2240. The compensation of registers andreceiv- for^reJi"lerI°i^d>?«'vlrL'°'' 
ers, including salary, fees, and commissions, shall in no vA^s.^pJm ^f^'Iprfjim, 
case exceed in the aggregate three thousand dollars a %&!\"'ro:s%!f:iif^^3^. 
year, each; and no register or receiver shall receive for ^^/i'm^l' jiu?!' isc!; '^ 
any one quarter or fractional quarter more than a pro- iLh.iLy'c/iailfv.i^o! 
rata allowance of such maximum. ^ f. il, Ss.^^^eb/f&^g 

c' 19, v! li, p.'378. Is'Feb.', 
1861, c. 38, S3. 1, 3, V. 12, p. 
131. -U. S. vs. Babbit, 1 Bl., 
65 . 

Sec. 2241. Whenever the amount of compensation be1fa';ffntoTr^,surr'°°'° 
received at any land-office exceeds the maximum allowed v.^o,^r2of i's FeK i^l; 
by law to any register or receiver, the excess shall be ^.ss.'ss. i,3,v. 12, p. '131. ' 
paid into the Treasury, as other public moneys. 

Sec. 2242. l^To register or receiver shaU receive any 22Tarch?i8r2!"c.^\^'. s. 3, 
compensation out of the Treasury for past services who u^ii-j'.wjjsli: ^^'"^ 
has charged or received illegal fees ; and, on satisfactory i)roof that either 

*Part in brackets repealed. Actual expenses only allowed. Act June 16, 1874, 
Stats., vol. 18, p. 72. 



44 

of such officers lias charged or received fees or other rewards not author- 
ized by law, he shall be forthwith removed from office. 
and°r'^LTyTra°wheVto'com' Sec. 2243. Thc compciisation of registers and receiv- 
""TiYeh., 1855, c. 124, 8. 3, ^1*8, both for salarj and commissions, shall commence 
^' ^°' p- ^^^- and be calculated from the time they, respectively, enter 

on the discharge of their duties. 

tefsTdZollfs':'^^ '"''"' Sec. 2244. All registers and receivers shall be ap- 
V. 3^ J! 582/^^°' *"■ ^°^' '■ ^' pointed for the term of four years, but shall be remov- 
able at pleasure. 

tu"'fe<'e°vers.''^"'' '" ^EC. 2245. Thc rcccivcrs shall make to the Secretary 
5 Viil: ^^^^' ""' ^^^' '■ ^' ^' of the Treasury monthly returns of the moneys received 
in their several offices, and i)ay over such money pursuant to his instruc- 
tions. And they shall also make to the Commissioner of the General 
Land Office like monthly returns, and transmit to him quarterly accounts- 
current of the debits and credits of their several offices with the United 
States. 

istersa'ndtTielver'?'^''^'"'' Sec. 2246. Thc rcglstcr or receiver is authorized, and 
p. slif""^' ^^^^' "■ ^^' ^' ^' it shall be theii* duty, to administer any oath required 
by law or the instructions of the General Land-Office, in connection with 
the entry or purchase of any tract of the public lands; but he shall not 
charge or receive, directly or indirectly, any compensation for administer- 
ing such oath. 

tiJifby regf"t'er!^^'' '°'^"™" Sec. 2247. If auy person applies to any register to 
V. Vp-'ib!^^' "' ^^^' '■ ^^' enter any land whatever, and the register knowingly 
and falsely informs the person so applying that the same has already 
been entered, and refuses to permit the person so applying to enter the 
same, such register shall be liable therefor to the person so applying, 
for $5 for each acre of land which the person so applying offered to 
enter, to be recovered by action of debt in any court of record having 
jurisdiction of the amount. 

****** 

Title xxxil— THE PUBLIC LANDS.— Ch. 4. 

PEE-EMPTIONS. 

Lands subject to pre-emp- ^^^^ 2257. All lauds bclongiug to thc United States, 
2 June, 1862, c. 94, s. 1, v. ^q ^hlch thc ludlau tltlc has been or may hereafter be 
extinguished, shall be subject to the right of pre-emption, under the 
conditions, restrictions, and stipulations provided by law. 
ert^^t ""' '"'^''' '° "'" Sec. 2258. The following classes of lands, unless other- 
s.pS''^^'''^^'''^"'^* wise specially provided for by law, shall not be subject 
to the rights of pre-emption, to-wit: 

First. Lands included in any reservation by any treaty, law, or procla- 
mation of the President, for any purpose. 

pI,'S .Toseptlrt.i! Second. Lands included within the limits of any in- 
ime?ki"«a'?Hk''u,Z,'5 corporatcd town, or selected as the site of a city or 

McLenn, 344; U. S. rs. Hail- ■<-/-» Trrn ' 

road Bridge Co., 6 McLean, tt>\VLl. 

hI,Us.','704?" "• ''''''' Third. Lands actually settled and occupied for pur- 
poses of trade and business, and not for agriculture. 

Fourth. Lands on which are situated any known salines or mines. 

Sec. 2259. Every person, being the head of a family, 
or widow, or single person, over the age of twenty-one 
PetwrUeirArkan- ycHrs, aud a citizeuof thc United States, or having 
ham' L"rhieyf'i4^"Sow': filcd a dcclaratiou of intention to become such, as re- 
i7i/icy5iTcrrfi8Ho;-,4T; qulrcd by the naturalization laws, who has made, or 
6 rHa'rJresr^^'^ncLhHri hcreaftcr makes, a settlement in person on the public 
DVncS'4Wail::2T8:"" '" lauds subjcct to pre-emption, and who inhabits and im- 



tion. 
12' 



Persons entitled to pre- 
mption. 

4 Sept., 1841, c. 16, s. 10, v. 
p. 4.'Jf 



45 

proves the same, and wlio has erected or shall erect a dwelling thereon, 
is authorized to enter with the register of the land-office for the district 
in which such land lies, by legal subdivisions, any number of acres not 
exceeding 160, or a quarter section of land, to include the residence of 
such claimant, upon paying to the United States the minimum price of 
such land. 

Sec. 2260. The following classes of persons, unless JJZ'^ir' '"''""* *° 
otherwise specially i)rovided for by law, shall not ac- 5,p.^|^5;'^^^'''*^*''^-^°''' 
quire any right ot pre-emption under the provisions of the preceding 
sections, to-wit: 

First. Xo person who is the proprietor of 320 acres of land in any 
State or Territory. 

Second. 'No person who quits or abandons his residence on his own 
land to reside on the public land in the same State or Territory. 

Sec. 2261. Xo person shall be entitled to more than ^. Limitation of pre-emption 
one pre-emptive right by virtue of the provisions of s.^p^^l'^^Mnrrh,' Telle 
section 2259 5 nor where a party has filed his declara- se, s. 4, v. 5, p. 620. 
tion of intention to claim the benefits of such provisions, for one tract 
of land, shall he file, at any future time, a second declaration for another 
tract. 

Sec. 2262. Before any person claiming the benefit of ,.h°'re\iei penaiir''""'''- 
this chapter is allowed to enter lands, he shall make s.p.^lSl:'^^^''''^^'''^^'''' 
oath before the receiver or register of the land-district in which the land 
is situat; d that he has never had the benefit of any right of pre-emption 
under section 2259; that he is not the owner of 320 acres of land in any 
State or Territory; that he has not settled upon and improved such land 
to sell the same on speculation, but in good faith to appropriate it to his 
own exclusive use; and that he has not, directly or indirectly, made any 
agreement or contract, in any way or manner, with any person whatever, 
by which the title which he might acquire from the Government of the 
United States should inure in whole or in ]:>art to the benefit of any per- 
son except himself; and if any person taking such oath swears falsely 
in the premises, he shall forfeit the money which he may have paid for 
such land, and all right and title to the same; and any grant or convey- 
ance which he may have made, except in the hands of bona fide pur- 
chasers, for a valuable consideration, shall be null and void, except as 
provided in section 2288. And it shall be the duty of the officer ad- 
ministering such oath to file a certificate thereof in the public land- 
office of such district, and to transmit a duplicate copy to the General 
Land-Office, either of which shall be good and sufficient evidence that 
such oath was administered according to law. 

Sec. 2263. Prior to any entries being made under and sig^nment°^^^"^p?e.emption 
by virtue of the provisions of section 2259, proof of the ''fl%t,^ im, c. le, s. 12, v. 
settlement and improvement thereby required shall be ^'£y*^®- ^.j. Arkansas, 9 
made to the satisfaction of the register and receiver of A°Mey^^ How^'sfrTBat 
the land-district in which such lands lie, agreeably to HeKi?Hot.'i;lfari7n'd 
such rules as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the ;:«• TrCns.^s'! 2^Hlw:■,^'93^ 
Interior; and all assignments and transfers of the right iafS^ey^ri^Hawse^''^ 
hereby secured, prior to the issuing of the patent, shall bCsw ^ Myers ts.croft; 13 
be null and void. 

Sec. 2261. When any person settles or improves a seuieHkh Ime'lft fo^^^J. 
tract of land subject at the time of settlement to private pHv^fteentry."'^' '"'''^'' '° 
entry, and intends to purchase the same under the pre- 5, p.^I?;:'^^-'"-^*'' '"'''• 
ceding provisions of this chapter, he shall, within thirty days after the 
date of such settlement, file with the register of the proper district a 
written statement, describing the land settled upon, and declaring his 



46 

intention to claim the same under the pre-emption laws; and he shall, 
moreover, within twelve months alter the date of such settlement, make 
the proof, affidavit, and payment hereinbefore required. If he fails to 
file such written statement, or to make such affidavit, proof, and pay- 
ment within the several i)eriods named above, the tract of land so set- 
tled and improved shall be subject to the entry of any other purchaser. 
lamhi^t JrociahLtrpsare"! Sec. 2265. Evcry claimant under the pre-emption law 
5,^pS'' ^^^'''■^^' '•^''' for land not yet proclaimed for sale is required to make 
wiii!"72" "'■ '^^'^'''^' ^^ known his claim in writing to the register of the proper 
land-office within three months from the time of the settlement, giving 
the designation of the tract and the time of settlement; otherwise his 
claim shall be forfeited and the tract awarded to the next settler, in the 
order of time, on the same tract of land, who has given such notice and 
otherwise complied with the conditions of the law. 
seuLt oursur'4'y«ua„d°f Sec. 2266. lu rcgard to settlements which are author- 
'''3rM!.yti862, c. 86, s. 7, v. i^cd upou uusurvcycd lands, the pre-emption claimant 
^^' p- *^*'' ' shall be in all cases required to file his declaratory state- 

ment within three months from the date of the receipt at the district 
land-office of the approved plat of the township embracing such i)re- 
emption settlement. 

fIZ'ZrmZns S'anJ Sec. 2267. All clalmauts of pre-emption rights, under 
T4'Tuiy,i87o,c.272,«.2,v. thc two prcccdiug sections, shall, when no shorter time 
Resf52!v^i6?p"^6oT5 ^^^^' ^s prcscrlbcd by law, make the proper proof and pay- 
ment for the land claimed within thirty months after the date prescribed 
therein, respectively, for filing their declaratory notices, has expired. 
tafa'cas^irotrsoTsia%T ^EC. 2268. Whcrc a prc-cmptor has taken the initia- 
''%VMtci^'im7r3»,B.5, tory steps required by law in regard to actual settle- 
^' ^^' p ^•' ment, and is called away from such settlement by being 

engaged in the military or naval service of the United States, and by 
reason of such absence is unable to appear at the district land-office to 
make before the register or receiver the affidavit, proof, and payment, 
respectively, required by the preceding provisions of this chapter, the 
time for filing such affidavit and making final proof and entry or loca- 
tion shall be extended six months after the expiration of his term of 
service, upon satisfactory j^roof by affidavit, or the testimony of wit- 
nesses, that such pre-emptor is so iu the service, being filed with the 
register of the land-office for the district in which his settlement is 
made. 

inJ'cTaim I'tho t'o co7prete: Sec. 2269. Whcrc a party entitled to claim the benefits 
^3 March, 1843, c. 86, s. 2, of tfic pre-cmptiou laws dies before consummating his 
^- ^' ^- ^^°' ' claim, by filing in due time all the papers essential to 

the establishment of the same, it shall be comi^etent for the executor or 
administrator of the estate of such party, or one of bis heirs, to file the 
necessary papers to complete the same; but the entry in such cases shall 
be made in favor of the heirs of the deceased pre-emptor, and a patent 
thereon, shall cause the title to inure to such heirs, as if their names 
had been specially mentioned. 

causTdiry"':]crc'yralcrof Sec. 2270. Whenever the vacancy of the office either 
aflfec?&c.' "'^''''"" ""* '° of register or receiver, or of both, renders it impossible 
v.\ pfcM. ^^^^' ^' ^*'' ° "' foi* fl^e claimant to comply with any requisition of the 
pre-emption laws within the appointed time, such vacancy shall not 
operate to the detriment of the party claiming, in respect to any matter 
essential to the establishment of his claim; but such requisition must 
be complied with within the same period after the disability is removed 
as would have been allowed had such disability not existed. 



47 

Sec. 2271. The provisions of this chapter shall be so J: Z"lTcon(i°Lity 
construed as not to confer on any one a right of pre- ^26''ATgri8-t2, c. 205, v. 5, 
emption, by reason of a settlement made on a tract p-^^*- 
theretofore' disposed of, when such disposal has not been confirmed by 
the General Land-Office, on account of any alleged defect therein. 

Sec. 2272. Nothing in the provisions of this chapter .f^r'S^Xnt^:^ 
shall be construed to preclude any person, who may 'TMarch, isa c. so, ..9, 
have filed a notice of intention to claim any tract of ""■ ^' ^- ^-^• 
land by pre-emption, from the right allowed by law to others to pur- 
chase such tract by private entry after the expiration of the right of 
pre-emption. 

Sec. 2273. When two or more persons settle on the tie'^'rrghTs°'of'''appel''o 
same tract of land, the right of pre-emption shall be in ^^Tepumi, c. ig, b. n, 
him who made the first settlement, provided such per- 1 154^-9.^10; v.^ni'r^' ^^" 
son conforms to the other provision of the law ; and all 
questions as to the right of pre-emption arising between HV"e!'2'Bl.',5r)i!"Mi'nr 



prd vs. Ashley, 18 
How., 43; Garland i-s. Wynn, 



Minneso- 
BatcheMer, 1 Wall. 
109; .Tihnson vs. Tawsley, 13 
Wall., 72. 



different settlers shall be determined by the register and 
receiver of the district within which the land is situated ; 
and appeals from the decision of district of&cers, in cases of contest for 
the right of pre-emption, shall be made to the Commissioner of the Gen- 
eral Land- Office, whose decision shall be final, unless appeal therefrom 
be taken to the Secretary of the Interior. 

Sec. 2274. When settlements have been made upon n,^'epe«onl^ntarr>l''°.bd°- 
agricultural public lands of the United States prior to "'f March' Vers' of 283, s. i, 
the survey thereof, and it has been or shall be ascer- ^- ^^' ^- ^''^■ 
tained, after the public surveys have been extended over such lands, 
that two or more settlers have improvements upon the same legal sub- 
division, it shall be lawful for such settlers to make joint entry of their 
lands at the local land-office, or for either of said settlers to enter into 
contract with his co-settlers to convey to them their portion of said land 
after a patent is issued to him, and, after making such contract, to file 
a declaratory statement in his own name, and prove up and pay for said 
land, and proof of joint occupation by himself and others, and of such 
contract with them made, shall be equivalent to proof of sole occupation 
and pre-emption by the applicant : Frovidedj That in no case shall the 
amount patented under this section exceed one hundred and sixty acres, 
nor shall this section apply to lands not subject to homestead or pre- 
emption entry. 

Sec. 2275. ^ Where settlements, with a view to pre- on'seftTnril ol- I^MefiS 
emption, have been made before the survey of the lands ''l6'Feb'.?i859, c. \s, v n, 
in the field, which are found to have been made on sec- p- 335. ' ' 
tions sixteen or thirty-six, those sections shall be subject to the pre-emp- 
tion claim of such settler ; and if they, or either of them, have been or 
shall be reserved or pledged for the use of schools or colleges in the 
State or Territory in which the lands lie, other lands of like quantity 
are appropriated in lieu of such as may be patented by pre-emptorsj and 
other lands are also appropriated to comjjensate deficiencies for school 
purposes, where sections sixteen or thirty-six are fractional in quantity, 
or where one or both are wanting by reason of the township being frac- 
tional, or from any natural cause whatever. 

Sec. 2276. The lands appropriated by the preceding eilntes oT^xh^^flTds'. ''''" 
section shall be selected, within the same land-district, p. 1^20 S,'i826; I II: 
in accordance with the following principles of adjust- «i>-^.pi'^' 
ment, to-wit: For each township or fractional township containiag a 
greater quantity of land than three-quarters of an entire township, one 
section 5 for a fractional township containing a greater quantitj^ of land 



48 

than one-half, and not more than three-quarters, of a township, three- 
quarters of a section; for a fractional township containing a greater 
quantity of land than one-quarter, and not more than one-half, of a 
township, one-half section; and for a fractional township containing a 
greater quantity of land than one entire section, and not more than one- 
quarter, of a township, one-quarter section of land. 
ramsl'ecJ,v'wfibr"re.eZ- ^EC. 2277. All warrauts for military bounty-lands, 
'%VmaZTiBr>2,c.i9,s.i, which are issued under any law of the United States, 
^- ^"' p- ^- ' shall be received in payment of pre-emption rights at 

the rate of one dollar and twenty-five cents pei* acre, for the quantity 
of land therein specified; but where the land is rated at one dollar and 
twenty-five cents per acre, and does not exceed the area specified in the 
warrant, it must be taken in full satisfaction thereof. 
reilvaU'^S^y'merofpr'e'^ Sec. 2278. Agricultural-collcge scrip, issued to any 
^TZyl 1870, c. 196, v. 16, Statc uudcr the act approved July second, eighteen 
p^^^ hundred and sixty- two, or acts amendatory thereof, 

shall be received fi om actual settlers in payment of pre-emption claims 
in the same manner and to the same extent as authorized in case of 
military bounty-land warrants, by the preceding section. 
rauroTd^a^is" ^'"" ''°°' Sec. 2279. ^o pcrsou shall have the right of pre- 
^ 3^March, 1853, c. 143, Y. 10, emptlou to morc than one hundred and sixty acres 
along the line of railroads within the limits granted by any act of Con- 
gr(3ss. 

res^e'vl^ibr^g^Intsfounrn' Sec. 2280. Auy scttlcr ou lauds heretofore reserved 
'inarch, 1853, c. 143, V. 10, OU accouut of clalms uudcr French, Spanish, or other 
p-^^*- grants, which have been or may be hereafter declared 

by the Supreme Court of the United States to be invalid, shall be en- 
til led to all the rights of pre-emption gi'anted by the preceding i>rovis- 
ioiis of this chapter, after the lands have been released from reservation, 
in the same manner as if no reservation had existed. 

Pre-emption rights on lands 
sserved for railroads. 

27 iVIarch, 1854, c. 25, v. 10, 
,269. 14 July, 1870, c. 272, 

2, V. 16, p. 279. of proposed railroads, and who had settled thereon prior 

to such withdrawal, shall be entitled to pre-emption at the ordinary 
minimum to the lands settled on and cultivated by them; but they shall 
file the proper notices of their claims and make i^roof and payment as 
in other cases. 

laved! &c.'""^ ""' '" "' '^^ Sec. 2282. Nothing contained in this chapter shall 
slii^'^®"'^^'^'''^*''' delay the sale of any of the public lands beyond the 
time appointed by the proclamation of the President. 
how lo'b" sou' '" '^'"''"'' Sec. 2283. The Osage Indian trust and diminished- 
17%^ m' ^^'^' "■ ^*^' '■ ^' ^' reserve lands in the State of Kansas, excepting the six- 
teenth and thirty-sixth sections in each township, shall be subject to 
disposal, for cash only, to actual settlers, in quantities not exceeding one 
hundred and sixty acres, or one quarter- section to each, in compact form, 
in accordance with the general principles of the pre-emption laws, under 
the direction of the Commissioner of the General Land-Office; but claim- 
ants shall file their declaratory statements as prescribed in other cases 
upon unoffered lands, and shall pay for the tracts, respectively, settled 
upon within one year from date of settlement where the plat of survey 
is on file at that date, and within one year from the filing of the town- 
ship-plat in the district office where such plat is not on file at date of 
settlement. 

prk.7"?oT &c.,"^8«bsciueTt Sec. 2284. The sale or transfer of his claim upon any 

"9'yiy!T872, c. 149, 8. 3, v. portion of these lands by any settler prior to the tweuty- 

"• '-'"• sixth day of April, eighteen hundred and seventy-one, 



reserved for railroads. Sec. 2281. All scttlcrs OU pubHc lauds which have 

p. 269. 14 July, 1870, c. 272, bccu Or may be withdrawn from market in consequence 



49 

shall not operate to preclude the right of entry, under the provisions of 
the preceding section, upon another tract settled upon subequent to such 
sale or transfer j but satisfactory proof of good faith must be furnished 
upon such subsequent settlement. 

Sec. 2285. The restrictions of the pre-emption laws, JrZS?o c/naVa'S 
contained in sections twenty-two hundred and sixty and '"g^Ma^isra, c. U9, s. 3, v. 
twenty- two hundred and sixty-one, shall not apply to ^^-p-^- 
any settler on the Osage Indian trust and diuiinished-reserve lands in 
the State of Kansas, who was actually residing on his claim on the ninth 
day of May, eighteen hundred and seventy- two. 

Sec. 2286. There shall be granted to the several coun- forse;roStice. '°"°'''' 
ties or parishes of each State and Territory, where there 4, p^s^^' ^^^*''^- ^^a.^i.v. 
are pubhc lands, at the minimum price for which public lands of the 
United States are sold, the right of pre-emption to one quarter-section 
of land, in each of the counties or parishes, in trust for such counties or 
parishes, respectively, for the estal3lishment of seats of justice therein 5 
but the proceeds of the sale of each such quarter-section shall be appro- 
priated for the purpose of erecting public buildings in the county or 
parish for which it is located, after deducting therefrom the amount 
originally paid for the same. And the seat of justice for such counties 
or parishes, respectively, shall be tixed previously to a sale of the ad- 
ioining lands within the county or parish for which the same is located. 

Sec. 2287. Any bona-fide settler under the homestead beZl^elre'g!^e^t°ic!l^er. 
or i)re-emption laws of the United States who has filed v.Tr,^!'io: ^^'^' ""' '^' "" ^^' 
the proper application to enter not to exceed one quarter-section of the 
public lands in any district land-oGice, and who has been subsequently 
appointed a register or receiver, may perfect the title to the land under 
the pre-emption laws by furnishing the proofs and making the payments 
required by law, to the satisfaction of the Commissioner of the General 
Land-Office. 

Sec. 2288. Any person who has already settled or ^So'ii^^^^afofprl"!:" 
hereafter may settle on the public lands, either by pre- ^"posr/. '°' "'''*"' ^''"''' 
emption or by virtue of the homestead law or any amend- v.lr'p.^of"''^' ^*"^' ''■ ^^' 
ments thereto, shall have the right to transfer, by warranty against his 
own acts, any portion of his pre-emption or homestead for charch, cem- 
etery, or school purposes, and for the right of way of railroads across 
such pre-emption or homestead, and the transfer for such public pur- 
poses shall in no way vitiate the right to complete and perfect the title 
to their pre-emptions or homesteads. 

Title xxxii.— THE PUBLIC LAKDS.— Ch. 5. 

H03IESTEADS. 

Sec. 2289. Every person who is the head of a family, apiToSYpTbKnlr" 
or who has arrived at the age of twenty-one years, and 12^^592' ^^^' '^^ ^^' °" ^' ^' 
is a citizen of the United States, or who has filed his declaration of in- 
tention to become such, as required by the naturalization laws, shall be 
entitled to enter one quarter-section or a less quantity of unappropriated 
public lands, upon which such i3erson may have filed a pre-emption claim, 
or which may, at the time the application is made, be subject to pre- 
emption at one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre ; or eighty acres or 
less of such unappropriated lands at two dollars and fifty cents per acre, 
to be located in a body, in conformity to the legal subdivisions of the 
public lands, and after the same have been surveyed. And every per- 
son owning and residing on land may, under the provisions of this sec- 
4 CIR . 



50 

tion, enter other laud lying contiguous to his land, which shall not, with 
the land so already owned and occupied, exceed in the aggregate one 
hundred and sixty acres. 

2TjunJ,'[86G:'"'i2;, .. 2, Sec. 2290. Thc pcrsou applying for the benefit of the 
e.' 75%.*'2f V. \l v!'l^2.Hi preceding section shall, upon ai:)plication to the register 
Ma^ch, 1864, c. 38, s. 2, V. 13, Qf thc laud-officc lu wMch he is about to make such en- 
try, make affidavit before the register or receiver that he is the head of 
a family, or is twenty-one years or more of age, or has performed service 
in the Army or Kavy of the United States, and that such application is 
made for his exclusive use and benefit, and that his entry is made for 
the purpose of actual settlement and cultivation, and not either directly 
or indirectly for the use or benefit of any other person ; and upon filing 
such affidavit with the register or receiver, on x)ayment of five doliai^s 
when the entry is of not more than eighty acres, and on payment of ten 
dollars when the entry is for more than eighty acres, he shall thereupon 
be permitted to enter the amount of land specified. 
wh^e'nSnn,i''"sued!''''"'' Sec. 2291. No ccrtificatc, however, shall be given, or 
v.u,l)"67. ^^^^'''' ^^^'*'^' patent issued therefor, until the expiration of five years 
from the date of such entry ; and if at the expiration of such time, or at 
any time within two years thereafter, the person making such entry 5 or 
if he be dead, his widow; or in case of her death, his heirs or devisee; 
or'in case of a widow making such entry, her heirs or devisee, in case of 
her death, proves by two credible witnesses that he, she, or they have 
resided ux)on or cultivated the same for the term of five years immedi- 
ately succeeding the time of Ming the affidavit, and makes affidavit that 
no part of such land has been alienated, except as provided in section 
twenty-two hundred and eighty-eight, and that he, she, or they will bear 
true allegiance to the Government of the United States ; then, in such 
case, he, she, or they, if at that time citizens of the United States, shall 
be entitled to a patent, as in other cases provided by law. 

When rights inure to - ^ - - _ 

benefit of infant thiklren. 

21 June, 1866, c. 127, s. 2 
V. U, p. 67. 

ty-one years of age, the right and fee shall inure to the benefit of such 
infant child or children ; and the executor, administrator, or guardian 
may, at any time within two years after the death of the surviving par- 
ent, and in accordance with the laws of the State in which such children, 
for the time being, have their domicile, sell the land for the benefit of such 
infants, but for no other purpose ; and the purchaser shall acquire the 
absolute title by the i^urchase, and be entitled to a patent from the 
United States on the payment of the office fees and sum of money above 
specified. 

varservke''\vheu'-u,d'' be"- ^EC. 2293. lu casc of aiiy pcrsou desirous of availing 
'°2VMTh'!^864';V3^f8l^'l; himself of the benefits of this chapter, but who, by rea- 
"■'■ ^3' p- '^^^ ' son of actual service in the military or naval service of 

the United States, is unable to do the personal preliminary acts at the 
district land-office which the preceding sections require; and whose 
family, or some member thereof, is residing on the land which he desires 
to enter, and upon which a bona-fide improvement and settlement have 
been made, such person may make the affidavit required by law before 
the officer commanding in the branch of the service in Avhich the party 
is engaged, which affidavit shall be as binding in law, and with like pen- 
alties, as if taken before the register or receiver ; and upon such affidavit 
being filed with the register by the wife or other representative of the 
party, the same shall become effective from the date of such filing, pro- 
vided the application and affidavit are accompanied by the fee and com- 
missions as required by law. 



When rights innre to the ^^^^ 2292. lu casc of thc dcath of both father and 
14 p 67 mother, leaving an infant child or children under twen- 



51 

Sec. 2294. In any case in which the applicant for a Javu^eTreTerLTco^rt! 
the benefit of the homestead, and whose family, or some ,, n. p.'s'' '''"' "■ ''' '• ' 
member thereof, is residing on the land which he desires to enter, and 
upon which a bona-fide improvement and settlement have been made, is 
prevented, by reason of distance, bodily infirmity, or other good cause, 
from personal attendance at the district land-office, it may be lawful for 
him to make the affidavit required by law before the clerk of the court 
for the county in which the applicant is an actual resident, and to 
transmit the same, with the fee and commissions, to the register and 
receiver. 

Sec. 2295. The register of the land-office shall note 2''oXll86?c?^i°.s\ v. 
all applications under the provisions of this chai^ter on ^^' ^- ^^^■ 
the tract-books and plats of his office, and keep a register of all such 
entries, and make return thereof to the General Land-Office, together 
with the proof upon which they have been founded. 

Sec. 2296. I^o lands acquired under the provisions su5rtTpr1oV'"dtbt"°' '" ''^ 
of this chapter shall in any event become liable to the u^H^lll: ^^^'^' "' ^^' "" *' ^' 
satisfaction of any debt contracted x)rior to the issuing of the patent 
therefor. 

Sec. 2297. If, at any time after the filing of the affi- i.oJlZ.l^'felenT^L'Z 
davit, as required in section 2290, and before the expi- ""^'kay, 1862, c. 75, s. 5, r. 
ration of the five years mentioned in section 2291, it is ^2. p. 393. 
proved, after due notice to the settler, to the satisfaction of the register 
of the land-office, that the person having filed such affidavit has actually 
changed his residence, or abandoned the land for more than six months 
at any time, then and in that event the land so entered shall revert to 
the Government. 

Sec. 2298. ]^o person shall be permitted to acquire title JedkTlZeL"^?"^ ""' 
to more than one quarter-section under the provisions laf p.^393: ^^^' "' ''"' "' *^' "" 
of this chapter. 

Sec. 2299. Kothing contained in this chapter shall be n„uS?eT"'"''''°" '"'''''' 
so construed as to impair or interfere in any manner 12^ p/393' '®*'^' ^* ^^' '■ ^' ""■ 
with existing pre emption rights 5 and all persons who may have filed 
their applications for a pre-emption right prior to the 20th day of May, 
1862, shall be entitled to all the privileges of this chapter. 

Sec. 2300. Ko person who has served, or may here- ^^^Sefouv.?MeV'''' 
after serve, for a period not less than fourteen days in isf p.fgf: ^^^^' ^" '^' '■ ^' '' 
the Army or Navy of the United States, either regular or volunteer, 
under the laws thereof, during the existence of an actual war, domestic 
or foreign, shall be deprived of the benefits of this chapter on account 
of not having attained the age of twenty-one years. 

Sec. 2301. ^vTothing in this chapter shall be so con- ,^:^^,'^ll ltr'%-,'i?:Z 
strued as to prevent any person who has availed him- '^ad'Aiay, 1862, c. 75, s. s, v. 
self of the benefits of section 2289, from paying the mini- ^^' ^- ^^'^■ 
mum price for the quantity of land so entered, at any time before the 
expiration of the five years, and obtaining a patent therefor from the 
Government, as in other cases directed by law, on making proof of set- 
tlement and cultivation as provided by law, granting i)re-emption rights. 

Sec. 2302. ^o distinction shall be made in the con- on ace'm-Sr &"/''""""' 
struction or execution of this chapter on account of race ,. u, p'T/! ^^'^^ ""' ^■^' '" ' 
or color ; nor shall any mineral lands be liable to entry and settlement 
under its provisions. 

* Sec. 2303. All the public lands in the States of Ala- 
bama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Florida shall 
be disi)Osed of in no other manner than according to the 

* Eepealed by act of June 22, 1876. 



21 June, 1866, c. 127, s. 1, 
V. U, p. 67. 

Repealed. 

22 June, 1876, c. 165, v. 19. 
P, 73. 



52 

terms and stipulations contained in the preceding provisions of this 
chapter. 

^soldier.' and sailors' home- gj,(.^ 2304. Evcry pHvatc soldicr and officer who has 
v.®i7f p?333!^''^' '■ ^^^' '• ^' served in the Army of the United States during the 
recent rebellion, for ninety days, and who was honorably discharged, 
and has remained loyal to the Government, including the troops mus- 
tered into the service of the United States by virtue of the third section 
of an act approved February 13, 1862, and every seaman, marine, and 
officer who has served in the ^avy of the United States, or in the Marine 
Corps, during the rebellion, for ninety days, and who was honorably 
discharged, and has remained loyal to the Government, shall, on com- 
liliance with the provisions of this chapter, as hereinafter modified, be 
entitled to enter upon and receive patents for a quantity of i^ublic lands 
not exceeding 160 acres, or one quarter-section, to be taken in compact 
form, according to legal subdivisions, including the alternate reserved 
sections of public land along the line of smy railroad or other public work, 
not otherwise reserved or appropriated, and other lands subject to entry 
under the homestead laws of the United States; but such homestead 
settler shall be allowed six months after locating his homestead, and 
filling his declaratory statement, within which to make his entry and 
commence his settlement and improvement. 

J:'Tell"^eto^'t^7,&c. Sec. 2305. The time which the homestead settler has 
v.®i7!"p."333.^^'^' "' ^^^' '■ ^' served in the Army, Navy, or Marine Corps shall be de- 
ducted from the time heretofore required to perfect title, or if discharged 
on account of wounds received or disability incurred in the line of duty, 
then the term of enlistment shall be deducted from the time heretofore 
required to perfect title, without reference to the length of time he may 
have served ; but no patent shall issue to any homestead settler who has 
not resided upon, improved, and cultivated his homestead for a period 
of at least one year after he shall have commenced his improvements. 
ies?[Sro'acr'rrigMrof! Seo. 2306. Evcry person entitled, under the provis- 
i-^^Ss/®"^'"'^^®'''^'''' ions of section 2304, to enter a homestead who may 
have heretofore entered, under the homestead laws, a quantity of land 
less than 160 acres, shall be permitted to enter so much land as, when 
added to the quantity previously entered, shall not exceed 160 acres. 
of'pi^r^rnsentTtird^fhome- Sec. 2307. lu casc of thc dcath of any person who 

stead, &c 



fjunt"i872, 0.338,3. 3, V. wouM bc cutitled to a homestead under the provisions 
^''^•^^^- of section 2304, his widow, if unmarried, or in case of 

her death or marriage, then his minor orphan children, by a guardian 
duly appointed and officially accredited at the Department of the In- 
terior, shall be entitled to all the benefits enumerated in this cliapter, 
subject to all the provisions as to settlement and improvement therein 
contained; but if such person died during his term of enlistment, the 
whole term of his enlistment shall be deducted from the time heretofore 
required to perfect the title. 

Js;::y:::;::::Cl'u^r:::!. Sec. 23O8. where a party at the date of his entry of 
''7J:£\s72,..33s,..i,v. a tract of land under the homestead laws, or subse- 
^"' "■ ^^'^ quentl.y thereto, was actually enlisted and employed in 

the Army or Kavy of the United States, his services therein shall, in 
the administrotion of such homestead laws, be construed to be equiva- 
lent, to all intents and purposes, to a residence for the same length of 
time upon the tract so entered. And if his entry has been canceled by 
reason of his absence from such tract while in the military or naval 
service of the United States, and such tract has not been disposed of, 
his entry shall be restored ; but if such tract has been disposed of, the 
party may enter another tract subject to entry under the homestead 



53 

laws, and his right to a patent therefor may be determined by the i)roofs 
touching his residence and cultivation of the first tract and his absence 
therefrom in such service. 

Sec. 2309. Every soldier, sailor, marine, ofdcer, or TJ^"^"ls^T^:^. 
other person coming within the provisions of section I'-p-^s*- 
2304, may, as well by an agent as in person, enter upon such homestead 
by filing a declaratory statement, as in pre-emption cases j but such 
claimant in i^erson shall within the time prescribed make his actual 
entry, commence settlements and iniprovements on the same, and there- 
after fulfill all the requirements of law. 

Sec. 2310. Each of the chiefs, warriors, and heads of Muntt ^;o7n°/sfea°d'nghu 



families of the Stockbridge Munsee tribes of Indians °^3 March, ises, c. 127, s. i, 
residing in the county of Shawana, State of Wisconsin, ^- ^^' ^- ^^'^• 
may, under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, enter a home- 
stead and become entitled to all the benefits of this chapter, free from 
any fee or charge; and any part of their present reservation, which is 
abandoned for that iDuri^ose, may be sold, under the direction of the 
Secretary of the Interior, and the proceeds applied for the benefit of 
such Indians as may settle on homesteads, to aid them in imi)roving the 
same. 

Sec. 2311. The homestead secured, by virtue of the ofltoc"Ce In^Tr'"'' 
preceding section, shall not be subject to any tax, levy, v.^iafp.'oek^®^^'" ^^'"'^ 
or sale; nor shall it be sold, conveyed, mortgaged, or in any manner 
incumbered, except upon the decree of the district court of the United 
States, as provided in the following section: 

Sec. 2312. Whenever any of the chiefs, warriors, or JSSL^"""" '" 
heads of families of the tribes mentioned in section ^Ai^'b^^-^^^^^' ''' ^''' '' ^' 
twenty -three hundred and ten, having filed with the clerk of the dis- 
trict court of the United States a declaration of his intention to become 
a citizen of the United States, and to dissolve all relations with any 
Indian tribe, two years previous thereto, appears in such court, and 
l^roves to the satisfaction thereof, by the testimony of two citizens, that 
for five years last past he has adopted the habits of civilized life; that 
he has maintained himself and family by his own industry ; that he reads 
and speaks the English language; that he is well disposed to become a 
peaceable and orderly citizen; and that he has sufficient capacity to 
manage his own affairs ; the court may enter a decree admitting him to 
all the rights of a citizen of the United States, and thenceforth he shall 
be no longer held or treated as a member of any Indian tribe, but shall 
be entitled to all the rights and i)rivileges, and be subject to all the duties 
and liabilities to taxation of other citizens of the United States. But 
nothing herein contained shall be construed to deprive such chiefs, war- 
riors, or heads of families of annuities to which they are or may be en- 
titled. 



Title xxxii.— THE PUBLIC LAiSrDS.— Ch. 7, 



Sec. 2362. The Secretary of the Interior is authorized, JZ'\7eZ^,Zt 'C'li'u- 
upon proof being made, to his satisfaction, that any ^Tjan., 1825, c. 5, v. 4, p. 
tract of land has been erroneously sold by the United T/u^l^kr:^^^''^'''''^'''^' 
States, so that from any cause the sale cannot be confirmed, to repay to 
the purchaser, or to his legal representatives or assignees, the sum of 
money which was paid therefor, out of any money in the Treasury not 
otherwise api^ropriated. 



54 

how'd* '"'"■'""'""'' Sec. 2363. Where any tract of land has been errone- 
il1^388.' ^^■'^^' *"■ ^' '■ ^' "■ ously sold, as described in the preceding section, and 
tiie money which was paid for the same has been invested in any stocks 
held in trust, or has been paid into the Treasury to the credit of any 
trust-fund, it is lawful, by the sale of such portion of the stocks as may 
be necessary for the purpose, or out of such trust-fund, to repay the 
purchase-money to the parties entitled thereto. 



Title xxxii.— THE PUBLIC LANDS.— Ch. 8. 

RESERVATION AND SALE OF TOWN-SITES ON THE PUBLIC LANDS. 

JZ"di;T863, 1'aoTht Sec. 2380. The President is authorized to reserve from 
^^' p- ''^*- the public lands, whether surveyed or unsurveyed, town- 

sites on the shores of harbors, at the junction of rivers, important port- 
ages, or any natural, or prosx^ective centers of population. 
veyelinlot" '" "' "" Sec. 2381. Whcu, lu thc opiuiou of the President, the 
i2^p^7M.''^^^^'^'^*''''^'''' public interests require it, it shall be the duty of the 
Secretary of the Interior to cause any of such reservations, or part 
thereof, to be surveyed into urban or suburban lots of suitable size, and 
to lix by api)raisement of disinterested persons their cash value, and to 
offer the same for sale at public outcry to the highest bidder, and theuce 
afterward to be held subject to sale at private entry according to such 
regulations as the Secretary of the Interior may prescribe ; but no lot 
shall be disposed of at public sale or private entry for less than the ap- 
praised value thereof. And all such sales shall be conducted by the 
register and receiver of the land-office in the district in which the reser- 
vation may be situated, in accordance with the instructions of the Com- 
missioner of the General Land-Office. 

juwn or city sites in public ^EC. 2382. lu auycasc in which parties have already 
13, p. 343. ^°'^' '■ ^' ^' founded, or may hereafter desire to found, a city or town 



1 July, 1864, 
5, p. 343. 

on the public lands, it may be lawful for them to cause to be hied with 
the recorder for the county in which the same is situated, a plat thereof, 
for not exceeding six hundred and forty acres, describing its exterior 
boundaries according to the lines of the public surveys, where such sur- 
veys have been executed ; also giving the name of such city or town, and 
exhibiting the streets, squares, blocks, lots, and alleys, the size of the 
same, with measurements and area of each municipal subdivision, the 
lots in which shall each not exceed four thousand two hundred square 
feet, with a statement of the extent and general character of the improve- 
ments 5 such map and statement to be verified under oath by the party 
acting for and in behalf of the x)ersons proposing to establish such city 
or town ; and within one month after such filing there shall be trans- 
mitted to the General Land-Office a verified transcript of such map and 
statement, accompanied by the testiuiony of two witnesses that such city 
or town has been established in good faith, and when the premises are 
within the limits of an organized laud-district, a similar map and state- 
ment shall be filed with the register and receiver, and at any time after 
the filing of such map, statement, and testimony in the General Land- 
Office, it maybe lawful for the President to cause the lo(s embraced 
within the limits of such city or town to be offered at public sale to the 
highest bidder, subject to a minimum of ten dollars for each lot ; and 
such lots as may not be disposed of at i)ublic sale shall thereafter be 
liable to private entry at such minimum, or at such reasonable increase 
or diminution thereafter as the Secretary of the Interior may order from 



55 

time to time, after at least three months' notice, in view of the increase 
or decrease in the vakie of the municipal property. But any actual 
settler upon any one lot, as above provided, and ujjon any additional 
lot in which he may have substantial improvements, shall be entitled to 
prove up and i:)urchase the same as a pre-emption, at such minimum, at 
any time before the day fixed for the public sale. 

Sec. 2383. When such cities or towns are established ^Z^ZslV^e^eri'^^i^lflt 
upon un surveyed lands, it may be lawful, after the ex- '"Jtuiy'Tsel; c°2to'ti?v: 
tension thereto of the public surveys, to adjust the ex- ^^' p- ^**- 
tension limits of the premises according to those lines, where it can be 
done without interference with rights which may be vested by sale ; and 
patents for all lots so disposed of at public or private sale shall issue as 
in ordinary cases. 

Sec. 2384. If within twelve months from the estab- towa\Te nTnief inT'eivi 
lishment of a city or town on the public domain, the ^'e^S' of'u^e fnte" for.''^ ^''' 
parties interested refuse or fail to file in the General igj p.^ali^^*^*' '• ^°^' '• *' ^' 
Land-Office a transcript maj), with the statement and testimony called 
for by the provisions of section twenty-three hundred and eighty -two, it 
may be lawful for the Secretary of the Interior to cause a survey and plat 
to be made of such city or town, and thereafter the lots in the same shall 
be disposed of as required by such provisions, with this exception, that 
they shall each be at an increase of fifty per centum on the minimum of 
ten dollars per lot. 

Sec. 2385. In the case of any city or town, in which pi,^t\\"y fromlen^^^^ 
the lots may be variant as to size from the limitation v.^isf^^^o/*^^' '"' ^°^' "'' ^' 
fixed in section twenty-three hundred and eighty -two, and in which the 
lots and buildings, as municipal improvements, cover an area greater 
than six hundred and forty acres, such variance as to size of lots or 
excess in area shall prove no bar to such city or town claim under the 
provisions of that section 5 but the minimum i)rice of each lot in such 
city or town, which may contain a greater number of square feet than 
the maximum named in that section, shall be increased to such reason- 
able amount as the Secretary of the Interior may by rule establish. 

" " 1^ which ^™^i, 

3 Man 
13, p. 530. 

extent so possessed and recognized, the title to town lots to be acquired 
shall be subject to such recognized possession and the necessary use 
thereof; but nothing contained in this section shall be so construed as 
to recognize any color of title in possessors for mining i:)uri30ses as 
against the United States. 

Sec. 2387. Whenever any portion of the pubUc lands i,fnLTforo?cu"paa^'°"'''' 
have been or maj' be settled upon and occupied as a ^ | ^arch, issr, c. 17-, v. u, 
town-site, not subject to entry under the agricultural pre-emption laws, 
it is lawful, in case such town be incorporated, for the cori)orate author- 
ities thereof, and, if not incorporated, for the judge of the county court 
for the county in which such town Is situated, to enter at the jjroper 
land-office, and at the minimum price, the land so settled and occupied 
in trust for the several use and benefit of the occupants thereof, accord- 
ing to their respective interests ; the execution of which trust, as to the 
disposal of the lots in such town, and the proceeds of the sales thereof, 
to be conducted under such regulations as may be prescribed by the 
legislative authority of the State or Territory in which the same may be 
situated. 

Sec. 2388. The entry of the land provided for in the tl^lentl^rr^ldi"^"^''' 
preceding section shall be made, or a declaratory state- ^ ajiarch, iser, c. 1--, v. u, 
ment of the ijurpose of the inhabitants to enter it as a town-site shall be 



Sec. 2386. Where mineral veins are possessed, which „,™^iHgh 
possession is recognized by local authority, and to the ^ ^^'''''^- ^^'^^' "■ ^°^' '• ^' 



56 

filed with the register of the proper land-office, prior to the commencement 
of the public sale of the body of land in which it is included, and the 
entry or declaratory statement shall include only such land as is actually 
occupied by the town, and the title to which is in the United States j 
but in any Territory in which a land-office may not have been estab- 
lished, such declaratory statements may be filed with the surveyor- 
general of the surveying-district in which the lands are situated, who 
shall transmit the same to the General Land-Office. 
num"bef of' nhrtrntf " '" Sec. 2389. If upou survcycd lands, the entry shall in 
^ 2^March, 1867, c. 177, v. 14, j^g extcrior limit bc made in conformity to the legal sub- 
divisions of the public lands authorized by law ; and where the inhab- 
itants are in number one hundred, and less than two hundred, shall 
embrace not exceeding three hundred and twenty acres ; and in cases 
where the inhabitants of such town are more than two hundred, and 
less than one thousand, shall embrace not exceeding six hundred and 
forty acres 5 and where the number of inhabitants is one thousand 
and over one thousand, shall embrace not exceeding twelve hundred 
and eighty acres ; but for each additional one thousand inhabitants, not 
exceeding five thousand in all, a further grant of three hundred and 
twenty acres shall be allowed. 

chy'S^ouito^Lm^" Sec. 2390. The words ^'not exceeding five thousand 
p. 183?^"' ^^^^''' ^^^' '■ ^^' in all," in the preceding section, shall not apply to Salt 
Lake City, in the Territory of Utah ; but such section shall be so con- 
strued in its application to that city that lands may be entered for the 
full number of inhabitants contained therein, not exceeding fifteen 
thousand ; and as that city covers school-section number thirty-six, in 
township number one north, of range number one west, the same may 
be embraced in such entry, and indemnity shall be given therefor wlien 
a grant is made by Congress of sections sixteen and thirty-six, in the 
Territory of Utah, for school purposes. 
certaia acts of trustees to Q^^^ 2391. Auy act of thc trustecs uot made in con- 
V. u, formity to the regulations alluded to in section twenty- 



be void. 

2 March, 1867. c. 177, 
p. 541. 



three hundred and eighty-seven shall be void. 
.nines,"&c.ror"To minS Sec. 2392. 1^0 title shall bc acquired, under the fore- 
'"'l' Mard,?i867, c. 177, v. 14, golug i^rovlsious of thls chapter, to any mine of gold, 
v! 15,^ p. 67.'^"'"''' ^^^^•^■^^' silver, cinnabar, or copper; or to any valid mining- 
claim or possession held under existing laws. 

tS&Z"'" °'''" '""""" Sec. 2393. The provisions of this chapter shall not 
^2 March, 1867, c. 177, V. u, apply to military or other reservations heretofore made 
by the United States, nor to reservations for light-houses, custom-houses, 
mints, or such other public purposes as the interests of the United States 
may require, whether held under reservations through the Land-Office 
by title derived from the Crown of Spain, or otherwise. 
pub"k'il\%"s,%St'onToe'^". Sec. 2394. The inhabitants of any town located on 
*^8 June, 1868,1 53, V. 15, p. thc public hiuds may avail themselves, if the town au- 
^^- ' ' ' ' ^i^Qj-i^ies choose to do so, of the i)rovisions of sections 
twenty- three hundred and eighty-seven, twenty-three hundred and 
eighty-eight, and twenty-three hundred and eighty-nine ; and in addi- 
tion to the minimum price of the lands embracing any town-site so 
entered, there shall be paid by the parties availing themselves of such 
provisions all costs of surveying and platting any such town-site, and 
exx^enses incident thereto incurred by the United States, before any 
patent issues therefor; but nothing contained in the sections herein 
cited shall prevent the issuance of patents to persons who have made 
or may hereafter make entries, and elect to proceed under other laws 

relative to tov/n-sites in this chapter set forth. 

# # # # * * 



57 

Title xxxil— THE PUBLIC LANDS.— Ch. 11. 

****** 

Sec. 2450. The Commissiouer of the General Land- t.fe"" t^t-Z:!:' Z 
Office is authorized to decide upon principles of equity llrdXms/' '"^"•"'"p"°" 
and justice, as recognized in courts of equity, and in p.fa/ 3" ASs^sf cl 7*8,"' 
accordance with regulations to be settled by the Secre- l:]}^;tiX K'258.^^^^' 
tary of the Treasury, the Attorney-General, and the Commissioner, con- 
jointly, consistently with such x)rinciples, all cases of suspended entries 
of public lands and of suspended pre-emption land- claims, and to ad- 
judge in what cases patents shall issue upon the same. 

Sec. 2451. Every such adjudication shall be approved ^.Jtv^vrltT ""^"=*''°""' 
by the Secretary of the Treasury and the Attorney-Gen- g/J,. ti."" ^^^'^' ^' '^' °' ^' ^' 
eral, acting as a board j and shall operate only to divest the United 
States of the title of the lands embraced thereby, without prejudice to 
the rights of conflicting claimants. 

Sec. 2452. The Commissioner is directed to report to u„^^?;;LelngtcS;°"' 
Congress at the first session after any such adjudica- ^ 3^A,,g.,i846,c. ;8,8.2,v. 
tions have been made a list of the same under the classes prescribed by 
law, with a statement of the principles upon which each class was de- 
termined. 

Sec. 2453. The Commissioner shall arrange his decis- i„?o'clal°srs. *° ''^ ''"^"'''^ 
ions into two classes j the first class to embrace all such g^^pA'if" ^^^*'' '^^ ''^' '• ^' ^• 
cases of equity as may be finally confirmed by the board, and the second 
class to embrace all such cases as the board reject and decide to be in- 
valid. 

gEC. 2454. Eor all lands covered by claims which are i/tbe1rst°ciasrand lands 
placed in the first class, patents shall issue to the claim- ibl umtlr'smel? ''^''''° 
ants; and all lands embraced by claims placed in the gS^Aug.mGj^c. -8,9.4,v. 
second class shall ipso facto revert to, and become part of, the public 
domain. 

Sec. 2455. It may be lawful for the Commissioner of ■J°Tr^:^r\llA.'oi ^Ztll 
the General Land-Office to order into market, after due '''3' Aug., 18*6, c. 78, ^ 5, v. 
notice, without the formality and expense of a proclama- ^' p- ^^• 
tion of the President, all lands of the second class, though heretofore 
unproclaimed and unoffered, and such other isola,ted or disconnected 
tracts or parcels of unoffered lands which, in his judgment, it would be 
proper to expose to sale in like manner. But public notice of at least 
thirty days shall be given by the land-officers of the district in which, 
such lands may be situated, x>ursuant to the directions of the Commis- 
sioner. 

Sec. 2456. Where patents have been already issued „ew ones is"ue'd"tnlru"a 
on entries which are confirmed by the officers who are '^'a'^March. isss, c. 152, s. 2, 
constituted the board of adjudication, the Commissioner ^- ^"' "• 2^^- 
of the General Land-Office, upon the canceling of the outstanding pat- 
ent, is authorized to issue a new patent, on such confirmation, to the 
person who made the entry, his heirs or assigns. 

Sec. 2457. The preceding provisions from section .j^-tent of foregoing provis- 
twenty-four hundred and fifty to section twenty-four ^ 26^ J^ne, isse, c. 47, v. n, 
hundred and fifty-six, inclusive, shall be applicable to all cases of sus- 
pended entries and locations, which have arisen in the General Land- 
Office since the twenty-sixth day of June, eighteen hundred and fifty- 
six, as well as to all cases of a similar kind which may hereafter occur, 
embracing as well locations under bounty-land warrants as ordinary en- 
tries or sales, including homestead entries and pre-emption locations or 
cases; where the law has been substantially complied with, and the 



'58 

error or informality arose from ignorance, accident, or mistake which is 
satisfactorily explained; and where the rights of no other claimant or 
pre-emptor are prejudiced, or where there is no adverse claim. 

u^nd'office 'iCTnfote Yh^'" Seg. 2478. Thc Commissioner of the General Land- 
'^'^'^- Office, under the direction of the Secretary of the In- 

terior, is authorized to enforce and carry into execution, by appropriate 
regulations, every loart of the i^ro visions of this Title not otherwise 
specially provided for. 

# # . * * * * 

Title lxx.— CRIMES.— Oh. 4. 

MAprfi, i-9o,c.9,s. i8,v. Sec. 5392. Evcry person who, having taken an oath 
kVil; vVlf Tia^'^^^' ^' before a competent tribunal, officer, or person, in any 
37F: Vs.^rrrrey^g^'et.' case in which a law of the United States authorizes an 
ioi u'Vi'^^^ickioiiflv oath to be administered, that he will testify, declare, 
G°inl^lU;"'v:Tvs!'Ken. dcposc, or ccrtlfy truly, or that any written testimony, 
drick;2 Ma«., 69. dcclaratlou, deposition, or certificate by him subscribed 

is true, willfully and contrary to such oath states or subscribes any 
material matter which he does not believe to be true, is guilty of i)erjury, 
and shall be punished by a fine of not more than two thousand dollars, 
and by imprisonment, at hard labor, not more than five years, and shall, 
moreover, thereafter, be incapable of giving testimony in any court of 
the United States until such time as the judgment against him is re- 
versed. [See § 1750.] 



4 [IvTo. 2.] 

AN ACT to amend section twenty-two liundred and ninety-one of the Eevised Statutes 
of the United States, in relation to proof required in homestead entries. 

Be it enacted hy the Senate and Souse of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled^ That the proof of residence, oc- 
cupation, or cultivation, the affidavit of non-alienation, and the oath of 
allegiance, required to be made by section twenty-two hundred and 
ninety-one of the Eevised Statutes of the United States, may be made 
before the judge, or in his absence, before the clerk of any court of 
record of the county and State, or district and Territory, in which the 
lands are situated ; and if said lands are situated in any unorganized 
county, such proof may be made in a similar manner in any adjacent 
county in said State or Territory; and the proof, affida^-it, and oath, 
when so made and duly subscribed, shall have the same force and effect 
as if made before the register or receiver of the proper land-district; 
and the same shall be transmitted bys uch judge, or the clerk of his 
court, to the register and the receiver, with the fee and charges allowed 
by law to him ; and the register and receiver shall be entitled to the 
same fees for examining and approving said testimony as are now al- 
lowed by law for taking the same. 

Sec. 2. That if any witness making such proof, or the said applicant 
making such affidavit or oath, swears falsely as to any material matter 
contained in said proof, affidavits, or oaths, the said false swearing 
being willful and corrupt, he shall be deemed guilty of i)erjury, and shall 
be liable to the same pains and penalties as if he had sworn falsely be- 
fore the register. 

Approved March 3, 1877. 



59 

[No. 3.] 

AN ACT for the relief of settlers on the public lands under the pre-emx)tion laws. 

Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled^ That any person who has made 
a settlement on the public lands under the pre-em]3tion laws, and has 
subsequent to such settlement changed his filing in ijursuance of law to 
that for a homestead entry upon the same tract of land, shall be entitled 
to have the time required to perfect his title under the homestead laws 
cominited from the date of his original settlement heretofore made, or 
hereafter to be made, under the pre-emption laws, subject to all the pro- 
visions of the law relating to homesteads. 

Approved May 27, 1878. 



[No. 4.] 

AN ACT to amend an act entitled '^An act to encourage the growth of timber on the 

Western Prairies." 

Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That the act entitled ''An Act to 
amend the act entitled 'An Act to encourage the growth of timber on 
Western Prairies,'" approved March thirteenth, eighteen hundred and 
seventy-four, be and the same is hereby amended so as to read as fol- 
lows : That any person who is the head of a family, or who has arrived 
at the age of twenty-one years, and is a citizen of the United States, or 
who shall have filed his declaration of intention to become such, as re- 
quired by the naturalization laws of the United States, who shall plant, 
protect, and keep in a healthy, growing condition for eight years ten 
acres of timber, on any quarter-section of any of the public lands of the 
United States, or five acres on any legal subdivision of eighty acres, or 
two and one-half acres on any legal subdivision of forty acres or less, 
shall be entitled to a patent for the whole of said quarter-section, or of 
such legal subdivision of eighty or forty acres, or fractional subdivision 
of less than forty acres, as the case may be, at the expiration of said 
eight years, on making i)roof of such fact by not less than two credible 
witnesses, and a full compliance of the further conditions as provided in 
section two: Provided, further, That not more than one quarter of any 
section shall be thus granted, and that no person shall make more than 
one entry under the provisions of this act. 

Sec. 2. That the person api^lying for the benefits of this act shall, upon 
application to the register of the land-district in which he or she is about 
to make such entry, make affidavit, before the register or the receiver, 
or the clerk of some court of record, or of&cer authorized to administer 
oaths in the district where the land is situated ; which affidavit shall be 
as follows, to wit : I, , having filed my api)lication, num- 
ber , for an entry under the x)rovisions of an act entitled "An Act to 

amend an act entitled 'An Act to encourage the growth of timber on the 

Western Prairies,' " approved ;, 187-, do solemnly swear (or 

affirm) that I am the head of a family (or over twenty-one years of age), 
and a citizen of the United States (or have declared my intention to be- 
come such) ; that the section of land specified in my said application is 
composed exclusively of prairie lands, or other lands devoid of timber ; 
that this filing and entry is made for the cultivation of timber, and for 



60 

my own exclusive use and benefit ; that I have made the said application 
in good faith, and not for the purpose of speculation, or directly or indi- 
rectly for the use or benefit of any other person or persons whomsoever 5 
that I intend to hold and cultivate the land, and to fully comply with 
the provisions of this said act ; and that I have not heretofore made an 
entry under this act, or the acts of which this is amendatory. And upon 
filing said affidavit with said register and said receiver, and on payment 
of ten dollars if the tract applied for is more than eighty acres, and five 
dollars if it is eighty acres or less, he or she shall thereupon be permitted 
to enter the quantity of land specified ; and the party making an entry 
of a quarter- section under the provisions of this act shall be required to 
break or plow five acres covered thereby the first year, five acres the 
second year, and to cultivate to crop or otherwise the five acres broken 
or plowed the first year ; the third year he or she shall cultivate to crop 
or otherwise the five acres broken the second year, and to plant in tim- 
ber, seeds, or cuttings the five acres first broken or plowed, and to cul- 
tivate and put in crop or otherwise the remaining five acres, and the 
fourth year to plant in timber, seeds, or cuttings the remaining five acres. 
All entries of less quantity than one quarter-section shall be plowed, 
planted, cultivated and planted to trees, tree-seeds, or cuttings, in the 
same manner and in the same proportion as hereinbefore provided for a 
quarter-section : Provided, hotvever, That in case such trees, seeds, or cut- 
tings shall be destroyed by grasshoppers, or by extreme and unusual 
drouth, for any year or term of years, the time for planting such trees, 
seeds, or cuttings shall be extended one year for every such year that 
they are so destroyed: Provided further, That the person making such 
entry shall, before he or she shall be entitled to such extension of time, 
file with the register and the receiver of the proper land-office an affida- 
vit, corroborated by two witnesses, setting forth the destruction of such 
trees, and that, in consequence of such destruction, he or she is com- 
pelled to ask an extension of time, in accordance with the provisions of 
this act : And provided further, That no final certificate shall be given, 
or patent issued, for the land so entered, until the expiration of eight 
years from the date of such entry ; and if, at the expiration of such time, 
or at any time within five years thereafter, the person making such entry, 
or, if he or she be dead, his or her heirs or legal representatives, shall 
prove by two credible witnesses that he or she or they have planted, and, 
for not less than eight years, have cultivated and protected such quan- 
tity and character of trees as aforesaid j that not less than twenty-seven 
hundred trees were planted on each acre, and that at the time of making- 
such proof there shall be then growing at least six hundred and seventy- 
five living and thrifty trees to each acre, they shall receive a patent for 
such tract of land. 

Sec. 3. That if at any time after the filing of said affidavit, and prior 
to the issuing of the patent for said land, the claimant shall fail to com- 
ply with any of the requirements of this act, then and in that event such 
land shall be subject to entry under the homestead laws, or b}' some 
other person under the provisions of this act: Provided, That the party 
making claim to said land, either as a homestead settler or under this 
act, shall give, at the time of filing his application, such notice to the 
original claimant as shall be ])rescribed by the rules established by the 
Commissioner of the General Land Office ; and the rights of the parties 
shall be determined as in other contested cases. 

Sec. 4. That no land acquired under the x>i'Ovisions of this act shall, 
in any event, become liable to the satisfaction of any debt or debts con- 
tracted x)rior to the issuing of the final certificate therefor. 



61 

Sec. 5. That the Commissioner of the General Land Office is hereby 
required to prepare and issue such rules and regulations, consistent with 
this act, as shall be necessary and proper to carry its provisions into 
effect ; and that the registers and receivers of the several land-offices 
shall each be entitled to receive two dollars at the time of entry, and 
the like sum when the claim is finally established and the final certifi- 
cate issued. 

Sec. 6. That the fifth section of the act entitled "An Act in addition to 
an act to punish crimes against the United States, and for other purposes," 
approved March third, eighteen hundred and fifty-seven, shall extend to 
all oaths, affirmations, and affidavits required or authorized by this act. 

Sec. 7. That parties who have already made entries under the acts 
approved March third, eighteen hundred'and seventy-three, and March 
thirteenth, eighteen hundred and seventy-four, of which this is amenda- 
tory, shall be permitted to complete the same upon full compliance with 
the provisions of this act j that is, they shall, at the time of making their 
final proof, have had under cultivation, as required by this act, an amount 
of timber sufficient to make the number of acres required by this act. 

Sec. 8. All acts and parts of acts in conflict with this act are hereby 
repealed. 

Approved June 14, 1878. 



[No. 5.] 
AN ACT to provide for the sale of desert lauds in certain States and Territories. 

Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled^ That it shall be lawful for any ' 
citizen of the United States, or any person of requisite age " who may be 
entitled to become a citizen, and who has filed his declaration to become 
such," and upon payment of twenty-five cents per acre, to file a declaration, 
under oath, with the register and the receiver of the land-district in which 
any desert land is situated, that he intends to reclaim a tract of desert 
land, not exceeding one section, by conducting water upon the same 
within the period of thn^e years thereafter : Provided^ hoivever^ That the 
right to the use of water by the person so conducting the same on or to 
any tract of desert land of six hundred and forty acres shall depend 
upon l)onafide prior appropriation •, and such right shall not exceed the 
amount of water actually appropriated and necessarily used for the pur- 
pose of irrigation and reclamation 5 and all surplus water over and above 
such actual appropriation and use, together with the water of all lakes, 
rivers, and other sources of water supply upon the i^ublic lands, and not 
navigable, shall remain and be held free for the appropriation and use 
of the public for irrigation, mining, and manufacturing purposes subject 
to existing rights. Said declaration shall describe particularly said sec- 
tion of land if surveyed, and if unsurveyed shall describe the same as 
nearly as possible without a survey. At any time within the period of 
three years after filing said declaration, upon making satisfactory proof 
to the register and receiver of the reclamation of said tract of land in 
the manner aforesaid, and upon the payment to the receiver of the ad- 
ditional sum of one dollar per acre for a tract of land not exceeding six 
hundred and forty acres to any one person, a patent for the same shall 
be issued to him : Provided, That no person shall be permitted to enter 



62 

more than one tract of land, and not to exceed six hundred and forty 
acres, which shall he in comjDact form. 

Sec. 2. That all lands exclusive of timber lands and mineral lands 
which will not, without irrigation, produce some agricultural crop, shall 
be deemed desert lands within the meaning of this act, Avhich fact shall 
be ascertained by jjroof of two or more credible witnesses under oath, 
whose affidavits shall be filed in the land-office in which said tract of 
land may be situated. 

Sec. 3. That this act shall only apply to and take effect in the States 
of California, Oregon, and Nevada, and the territories of WasLington, 
Idaho, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Arizona, New Mexico, and Dakota, 
and the determination of what may be considered desert land shall be 
subject to the decision and regulation of the Commissioner of the Gen- 
eral Land Office. 

Approved March 3, 1877. 



[No. 6.] 
AN ACT providing for the sale of saline lands. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the TJyiited 
States of America in Congress assembled^ That whenever it shall be made 
appear to the register and the receiver of any land-office of the United 
States that any lands within their district are saline in character, it shall 
be the duty of said register and said receiver, under the regulation of 
the General Land Office, to take testimony in reference to such lands to 
ascertain their true character, and to report the same to the General 
Land Office ; and if, upon such testimony, the Commissioner of the Gen- 
eral Land Office shall find that such lands are saline and incapable of 
being purchased under any of the laws of the United States relative to 
the public domain, then, and in such case, such lands shall be offered 
for sale by public auction at the local land-office of the district in which 
the same shall be situated, under such regulations as shall be prescribed 
by the Commissioner of the General Land Office, and sold to the highest 
bidder for cash at a price not less than one dollar and twenty-five cents 
per acre ; and in case said lands fail to sell when so offered, then the 
same shall be subject to private sale at such land-office, for cash, at a 
price not less than one dollar and twenty -five cents per acre, in the 
same manner as other lands of the United States are sold : Provided^ 
That the foregoing enactments shall not apply to any State or Territory 
which has not had a grant of salines by act of Congress, nor to any 
State which may have had such a grant, until either the grant has been 
fully satisfied, or the right of selection thereunder has expired by efflux 
of time. But nothing in this act shall authorize the sale or couveyance 
of any title other than such as the United States has, and the patents 
issued shall be in the form of a release and quit-claim of all title of the 
United States in such lands. 

Sec. 2. That all executive proclamations relating to the sales of public 
lands shall be published in only one newspaper, the same to be printed 
and published in the State or Territory where the lands are situated, 
and to be designated by the Secretary of the Interior. 

Approved January 12, 1877. 



63 

[No. 7.] 
AN ACT respecting the limits of reservations for town-sites npon the public domain. 

Be it enacted hy the Senate and Souse of Eepresentatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That the existence or incorpora- 
tion of any town upon the public lands of the United States shall not 
be held to exclude from x)re-emxJtion or homestead entry a greater quan- 
tity than twenty -five hundred and sixty acres of land, or the maximum 
area which may be entered as a town-site under existing laws, unless 
the entire tract claimed or incorporated as such town-site shall, including 
and in excess of the area above specified, be actually settled ujDon, in- 
habited, improved, and used for business and municipal imrposes. 

Sec. 2. That where entries have been heretofore allowed upon lands 
afterward ascertained to have been embraced in the corporate limits of 
any town, but which entries are or shall be shown, to the satisfaction of 
the Commissioner of the General Land Office, to include only vacant 
unoccupied lands of the United States, not settled upon or used for mu- 
nicipal purposes, nor devoted to any public use of such town, said 
entries, if regular in all respects, are hereby confirmed and may be car- 
ried into patent: Frovided, That this confirmation shall not operate to 
restrict the entry of any town-site to a smaller area than the maximum 
quantity of land which, by reason of present population, it may be en- 
titled to enter under section twenty-three hundred and eighty-nine of 
the Eevised Statutes. 

Sec. 3. That whenever the corporate limits of any town upon the pub- 
lic domain are shown or alleged to include lands in excess of the maxi- 
mum area specified in section one of this act, the Commissioner of the 
General Land Office may require the authorities of such town, and it 
shall be lawful for them, to elect what i)ortion of said lands, in compact 
form and embracing the actual site of the municipal occupation and im- 
l)rovement, shall be withheld from pre-emption and homestead entry -, 
and thereafter the residue of such lands shall be open to disposal under 
the homestead and pre-emiDtion laws. And upon default of said town 
authorities to make such selection mthin sixty days after notification 
by the Commissioner, he may direct testimony respecting the actual 
location and extent of said improvements, to be taken by the register 
and receiver of the district in which such town may be situated ; and, 
upon receipt of the same, he may determine and set oft' the proi^er site 
according to section one of this act, and declare the remaining lands 
open to settlement and entry under the homestead and pre-emption 
laws 5 and it shall be the duty of the secretary of each of the Territories 
of the United States to furnish the surveyor-general of the Territory, 
for the use of the United States, a copy duly certified of every act of 
the legislature of the Territory incorporating any city or town, the 
same to be forwarded by such secretary to the surveyor-general within 
one month from date of its approval. 

Sec. 4. It shall be lawful for any town which has made, or may here- 
after make, entry of less than the maximum quantity of land named in 
section twenty-three hundred and eighty-nine of the Eevised Statutes to 
make such additional entry, or entries, of contiguous tracts, which may be 
occupied for town purposes as when added to the entry or entries thereto- 
fore made will not exceed twentj -five hundred and sixty acres : Provided, 
That such additional entry shall not together with all prior entries be in 
excess of the area to which the town may be entitled at date of the addi- 
tional entry by virtue of its population as prescribed in said section 
twenty-three hundred and eighty -nine. 

Approved March 3, 1877. 



64 

[IS-Q. 8.] . 

AN ACT for the sale of timber lands iu the States of California, Oregon, Nevada, and 

in Washington Territory. 

Be it enacted hy the Senate and Souse of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled^ That surveyed public lands of 
the United States within the States of California, Oregon, and Nevada, 
and in Washington Territory, not included within military, Indian, or 
other reservations of the United States, valuable chiefly for timber, but 
unfit for cultivation, and which have not been offered at public sale ac- 
cording to law, may be sold to citizens of the United States, or persons 
who have declared their intention to become such, in quantities not ex- 
ceeding one hundred and sixty acres to any one person or association of 
persons, at the minimum price of two dollars and fifty cents per acre ; 
and lands valuable chiefly for stone may be sold on the same terms as 
timber lands : Provided^ That nothing herein contained shall defeat or 
impair any bona-fide claim under any law of the United States, or au- 
thorize the sale of any mining claim, or the improvements of any bona- 
fide settler, or lands containing gold, silver, cinnabar, copper, or coal, or 
lands selected by the said States under any law of the United States 
donating lands for internal improvements, education, or other purposes : 
And provided further^ That none of the rights conferred by the act ap- 
proved July twenty-sixth, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, entitled "An 
Act granting the right of way to ditch and canal owners over the public 
lands, and for other x)urposes," shall be abrogated by this actj and all 
patents granted shall be subject to any vested and accrued water rights, 
or rights to ditches and reservoirs used in connection with such water 
rights, as may have been acquired under and by the provisions of said 
act ; and such rights shall be exi)ressly reserved in any patent issued 
under this act. 

Sec. 2. That any person desiring to avail himself of the provisions of 
this act shall file with the register of the proper district a written state- 
ment in duplicate, one of which is to be transmitted to the General Land 
Office, designating by legal subdivisions the particular tract of land he 
desires to purchase, setting forth that the same is unfit for cultivation, 
and valuable chiefly for its timber or stone ; that it is uninhabited ; con- 
tains no mining or other improvements, except for ditch or canal pur- 
poses, where any such do exist, save such as were made by or belong to 
the applicant, nor, as deponent verily believes, any valuable deposit of 
gold, silver, cinnabar, copper, or coal ; that deponent has made no other 
application under this act ; that he does not apx>ly to purchase the same 
on speculation, but in good faith to appropriate it to his own exclusive use 
and benefit 5 and that he has not, directly or indirectly, made any agreement 
or contract, in any way or manner, with any person or persons whatso- 
ever, b.Y which the title which he might acquire from the Government 
of the United States should inure, in whole or in part, to the benefit of 
any person except himself; which statement must be verified by the 
oath of the applicant before the register or the receiver of the land-office 
within the district where the land is situated ; and if any person taking 
such oath shall swear falsely in the premises, he shall be subject to all 
the pains and penalties of perjury, and shall forfeit the money which he 
may have paid for said lands, and all right and title to the same ; and 
any grant or conveyance Avhich he may have made, except in tlie hands 
of bona-fide purchasers, shall be null and void. 

Sec. 3. That upon the filing of said statement, as provided in the sec- 



65 

ond section of tliis act, the register of the land-of&ce shall post a notice 
of such application, embracing a description of the land by legal sub- 
divisions, in his office, for a period of sixty days, and shall furnish the 
applicant a copy of the same for publication, at the expense of such 
applicant, in a newspaper published nearest the location of the premises, 
for a like period of time ; and after the expiration of said sixty days, if 
no adverse claim shall have been filed, the person desiring to purchase 
shall furnish to the register of the land-office satisfactory evidence, 
first, that said notice of the application prepared by the register as 
aforesaid was duly published in a newspaper as herein required ; sec- 
ondly, that the land is of the character contemplated in this act, unoc- 
cupied and without improvements, other than those excepted, either 
mining or agricultural, and that it apparently contains no valuable de- 
posits of gold, silver, cinnabar, copper, or coal ; and upon payment to 
the proper officer of the purchase-money of said land, together with the 
fees of the register and the receiver, as provided for in case of mining 
claims in the twelfth section of the act approved May tenth, eighteen 
hundred and seventy-two, the ap]3licant may be permitted to enter said 
tract, and, on the transmission to the General Land Office of the papers 
and testimony in the case, a patent shall issue thereon : Provided^ That 
any person having a valid claim to any portion of the land may object, 
in writing, to the issuance of a patent to lands so held by him, stating 
the nature of his claim thereto ; and evidence shall be taken, and the 
merits of said objection shall be determined by the officers of the land- 
office, subject to appeal, as in other land cases. Effect shall be given to 
the foregoing provisions of this act by regulations to be prescribed by 
the Commissioner of the General Land Office. 

* # # # i* # 

Sec. 6. That all acts and parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions 
of this act are hereby repealed. 
Approved June 3, 1878. 



[Ko. 9.] 

AN ACT making appropriations to supply deficiencies in the appropriations for fiscal 
years ending June tliirtietli, eigliteeu hundred and seventy-five, and prior years, 
and for other purposes. 

Be it enacted by tlie Senate and Souse of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled^ # * # 

Sec. 15. That any Indian, born in the United States, who is the head 
of a family, or who has arrived at the age of twenty-one years, and who 
has abandoned, or may hereafter abandon, his tribal relations, shall, on 
making satisfactory proof of such abandonment under rules to be pre- 
scribed by the Secretary of the Interior, be entitled to the benefits of 
the act entitled "An Act to secure homesteads to actual settlers on the 
public domain," approved May twentieth, eighteen hundred and sixty- 
two, and the acts amendatory thereof, except that the provisions of the 
eighth section of the said act shall not be held to apply to entries made 
under this act : Provided^ however^ That the title to lands acquired by 
any Indian by virtue hereof shall not be subject to alienation or incum- 
brance, either by voluntary conveyance, or the judgment, decree, or or- 
der of any court, and shall be and remain inalienable for a period of five 
years from the date of the patent issued therefor : Provided^ That any 

5 CIE 



66 

such Indian sliall be entitled to his distributive share of all annuities, 
tribal funds, lands, and other property, the same as though he had 
maintained his tribal relations } and any transfer, alienation, or incum- 
brance of any interest he may hold or claim by reason of his former 
tribal relations shall be void. 

Sec. 16. That in all cases in which Indians have heretofore entered 
public lands under the homestead law, and have proceeded in accord- 
ance with the regulations prescribed by the Commissioner of the Gen- 
eral Land OfiOice, or in which they may hereafter be allowed to so enter 
under said regulations prior to the promulgation of regulations to be 
established by the Secretary of the Interior under the tifteenth section 
of this act, and in which the conditions prescribed by law have been 
or may be complied with, the entries so allowed are hereby confirmed, 
and patents shall be issued thereon ; subject, however, to the restric- 
tions and limitations contained in the fifteenth section of this act in 
regard to alienation and incumbrance. 

Approved March 3, 1875. 



[Ko. 10.] 

AN ACT defiuing the maimer in wliicli certain land-scrip may be assigned and located, 
or applied by actual settlers, and providing for the issue of patents in the name of 
the locator or his legal representatives. 

Be it enacted hy the Senate and Souse of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled^ That whenever, in cases prose- 
cuted under the acts of Congress of June twenty-second, eighteen hun- 
dred and sixty, March second, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, and 
the first section of the act of June tenth, eighteen hundred and seventy- 
two, providing for the adjustment of private land claims in the States 
of Florida, Louisiana, and Missouri, the validity of the claim has been, 
or shall be hereafter, recognized by the Supreme Court of the United 
States, and the court has decreed that the plaintiff or plaintiffs is or are 
entitled to enter a certain number of acres upon the public lands 9f the 
United States, subject to private entry at one dollar and twenty-five 
cents i)er acre, or to receive certificate of location for as much of the 
laud the title to which has been established as has been disposed of by 
the United States, certificate of location shall be issued by the Commis- 
sioner of the General Land Office, attested by the seal of said office, to 
be located as provided for in the sixth section of the aforesaid act of 
Congress of June twenty-second, eighteen liundred and sixty, or applied 
according to the provisions of the second section of this act ; and said 
certificate of location or scrip shall be subdivided according to the re- 
quest of the confirmee or confirmees, and, as nearly as practicable, in 
conformity with the legal divisions and subdivisions of the public 
lands of the United States, and shall be, and are hereby declared to be, 
assignable by deed or instrument of writing, according to the form and 
pursuant to regulations prescribed by the Commissioner of the General 
Land Office, so as to vest the assignee with all the rights of the original 
owners of the scrip, including the right to locate the scrip in his own 
name. 

Sec. 2. That such scrip shall be received from actual settlers only in 
payment of pre-emption claims or in commutation of homestead claims, 
in the same manner and to the same extent as is now authorized by law 
in the case of military bounty-land warrants. 



67 

Sec. 3. That tlie register of the proper land-office, upon any such cer- 
tificate being located, shall issue, in the name of the party maMng the 
location, a certificate of entry, upon which, if it shall appear to the sat- 
isfaction of the Commissioner of the General Land Office that such cer- 
tificate has been fairly obtained, according to the true intent and mean- 
ing of this act, a patent shall issue, as in other cases, in the name of the 
locator or his legal representative. 

Sec. 4. That the provisions of this act respecting the assignment and 
patenting of scrip and its ai)plication to j)re-emption and homestead 
claims shall apply to the indemnity-certificates of location provided for 
by the act of the second of June, eighteen hundred and fifty-eight, en- 
titled ''An Act to provide for the location of certain confirmed private 
land-claims in the State of Missouri, and for other purposes." 

Approved January 28, 1879. 



[No. 11.] 

AIST ACT to grant additional rights to homestead settlers on public lands within rail- 
road limits. 

Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That from and after the passageof 
this act, the even sections within the limits of any grant of public lands to 
any railroad company, or to any military road company, or to any State 
in aid of any railroad or military road, shall be open to settlers under 
the homestead laws to the extent of one hundred and sixty acres to each 
settler, and any person who has, under existing laws, taken a homestead 
on any even section within the limits of any railroad or military road 
land-grant, and who by existing laws shall have been restricted to eighty 
acres, may enter under the homestead laws an additional eighty acres 
adjoining the land embraced in his original entry, if such additional 
land be subject to entry ; or if such person so elect, he may surrender 
his entry to the United States for cancellation, and thereupon be entitled 
to enter lands under the homestead laws the same as if the surrendered 
entry had not been made. And any person so making additional entry 
of eighty acres, or new entry after the surrender and cancellation of his 
original entry, shall be permitted so to do without payment of fees and 
commissions j and the residence and cultivation of such person upon 
and of the land embraced in his original entry shall be considered resi- 
dence and cultivation for the same length of time upon and of the land 
embraced in his additional or new entry, and shall be deducted from the 
five years' residence and cultivation required by law : Provided, That iu 
no case shall patent issue upon an additional or new homestead entry 
under this act until the person has actually, and in conformity with the 
homestead laws, occupied, resided upon, and cultivated the land em~ 
braced therein at least one year. 

Approved March 3, 1879. 



68 

[No. 12.] 

AN ACT to grant additional rights to homestead settlojs on public lands within rail- 
road limits in the States of Missouri and Arkansas. 

Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled^ That from and after tlie passage 
of tliis act the odd sections within the limits of any grant of public lands 
to any railroad company in the States of Missouri and Arkansas, or to 
such States respectively, in aid of any railroad, where the even sections 
have been granted to and received by any railroad company or by such 
States respectively in aid of any railroad, shall be open to settlers under 
the homestead laws to the extent of one hundred and sixty acres to 
each settler; and any person who has under existing laws taken a home- 
stead on any section within the limits of any railroad grant in said States, 
and who b}^ existing laws shall have been restricted to eighty acres, 
may enter under the homestead laws an additional eighty acres adjoin- 
ing the land embraced in his original entry, if such additional land be 
subject to entry; or if such person so elect, he may surrender his entry 
to the United States for cancellation, and thereupon be entitled to enter 
lands under the homestead laws the same as if the surrendered entry 
had not been made. And any person so making additional entry of eighty 
acres, or new entry after the cancellation of his original entry, shall be 
permitted to do so without payment of fees or commissions; and the 
residence of such person upon and cultivation of the land embraced in 
his original entry shall be considered residence and cultivation for the 
same length of time upon and of the land embraced in his additional or 
new entry, and shall be deducted from the five years' residence and cul- 
tivation required by law: Provided, That in no case shall patent issue 
upon an additional or new homestead entry under this act until the 
person has actually, and in conformity with the homestead laws, occu- 
pied, resided upon, and cultivated the land embraced therein at least one 
year. 

Approved July 1, 1879. 



[No. 13.] 

AN ACT to provide additional regulations for homestead and pre-emption entries of 

public lands. 

Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assemUedj That before final proof shall be 
submitted by any person claiming to enter agricultural lands under the 
laws providing for pre-emption or homestead entries, such person shall 
file with the register of the proper land-office a notice of his or her in- 
tention to make such proof, stating therein the description of lands to 
be entered, and the names of the witnesses by whom the necessary 
facts will be established. Upon the filing of such notice the register 
shall publish a notice, that such application has been made, once a week 
for the period of thirty days, in a newspaper to be by him designated 
as published nearest to such land, and he shall also post such notice in 
some conspicuous place in his office for the same period. Such notice 
shall contain the names of the witnesses as stated in the application. 
At the expiration of said period of thirty days the claimant shall be 
entitled to make proof in the manner heretofore provided by law. The 
Secretary of the Interior shall make all necessary rules for giving effect 
.to the foregoing provisions. 

Approved March 3, 1879. 



69 

[No. 14.J 
AN ACT for the relief of settlers on public lands. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and Rouse of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled^ That when a pre-emi)tion, home- 
stead, or timber-culture claimant shall file a written relinquishment of 
his claim in the local land office, the land covered by such claim shall be 
held as open to settlement and entry without further action on the part 
of the Commissioner of the General Land Office. 

Sec. 2. In all cases where any person has contested, paid the land 
office fees, and procured the cancellation of any j)re-emption, homestead, 
or timber-culture entry, he shall be notified by the register of the land 
office of the district in which such land is situated of such cancellation, 
and shall be allowed thirty days from date of such notice to enter said 
lands : Provided^ That said register shall be entitled to a fee of one dol- 
lar for the giving of such notice, to be paid by the contestant, and not 
to be reported. 

Sec. 3. That any settler who has settled, or who shall hereafter settle, 
on any of the public lands of the United States, whether surveyed or 
unsurveyed, with the intention of claiming the same under the home- 
stead laws, shall be allowed the same time to file his homestead applica- 
tion and perfect his original entry in the United States Land Office as 
is now allowed to settlers under the pre-emption laws to put their claims 
on record, and his right shall relate back to the date of settlement, the 
same as if he settled under the pre-emption laws. 

Approved May 14, 1880. 



[No. 15.] 

AN" ACT to provide for issuing patents for public lands claimed under the pre-emption 
and homestead laws, in cases where the claimants have become insane. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and Souse of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled^ That in all cases in which par- 
ties who regularly initiated claims to public lands as settlers thereon 
according to the provisions of the pre-emption or homestead laws, have 
become insane or shall hereafter become insane before the expiration of 
the time during which their residence, cultivation, or improvement of 
the land claimed by them is required by law to be continued in order to 
entitle them to make the proper proof and perfect their claims, it shall 
be lawful for the required proof and payment to be made for their bene- 
fit by any f^erson who may be legally authorized to act for them during 
their disability, and thereupon their claims shall be confirmed and pat- 
ented, provided it shall be shown by proof satisfactory to the Commis- 
sioner of the General Land Office that the parties complied in good faith 
with the legal requirements up to the time of their becoming insane, and 
the requirement in homestead entries of an affidavit of allegiance by the 
applicant in certain cases as a prerequisite to the issuing of the patents 
shall be dispensed with so far as regards such insane parties. 

Approved June 8, 1880. 



70 

[No. IG.] 
AN ACT relating to the public lands of the United States. 

Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled^ That wlieu any lands ot the 
United States shall have been entered and the Government price paid 
therefor in fall no criminal suit or proceeding by or in the name of the 
United States shall thereafter be had or further maintained for any tres- 
passes upon or for or on account of any material taken from said lands 
and no civil suit or proceeding shall be had or further maintained for or 
on account of any trespasses upon or material taken from the said lands 
of the United States in the ordinary clearing of land, in working a min- 
ing claim or for agricultural or domestic purposes or for maintaining 
improvements upon the land of any hona fide settler or for or on account 
of any timber or material taken or used by any person without fault or 
knowledge of the trespass or for or on account of any timber taken or 
used without fraud or collusion by any i^erson who in good faith paid 
the officers or agents of the United States for the same or for or on ac- 
count of any alleged conspiracy in relation thereto : Provided^ That the 
provisions of this section shall apply only to trespasses and acts done or 
committed and conspiracies entered into prior to March first, eighteen 
hundred and seventy-nine : And provided further^ That defendants in 
such suits or proceedings shall exhibit to the proper courts or officer the 
evidence of such entry and payment and shall pay all costs accrued up 
to the time of such entry. 

Sec. 2. That persons who have heretofore under any of the homestead 
laws entered lands properly subject to such entry, or persons to whom 
the right of those having so entered for homesteads, may have been 
attempted to be transferred by hona fide instrument in Avriting, may en- 
title themselves to said lands by paying the Government price therefor, 
and in no case less than one dollar and twenty- five cents per acre, ancl 
the amount heretofore paid the Government upon said lands shall be 
taken as part payment of said price : Provided, This shall in no wise in- 
terfere with the rights or claims of others who may have subsequently 
entered such lands under the homestead laws. 

Sec. 3. That the j^rice of lands now subject to entry which were raised 
to two dollars and fifty cents per acre, and put in market prior to Janu- 
ary, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, by reason of the grxut of alternate 
sections for railroad purposes is hereby reduced to one dollar and twenty- 
five cents per acre. 

Sec. 4. This act shall not apply to any of the mineral lands of the 
United States ; and no person who shall be prosecuted for or proceeded 
against on account of any trespass committed or material taken from 
any of the public lands after March first, eighteen hundred and seventy- 
nine shall be entitled to the benefit thereof. 

Approved June 15, 1880. 



[No. 17.] 

AN ACT for the relief of certain settlers on the public lands, and to provide for the 
repayment of certain fees, purchase money, and commissions paid on void entries of 
public lands. 

Be it enacted hy the Senate and Rouse of Eepresentatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That in all cases where it shall, 



71 

upon due proof being made, appear to the satisfaction of the Secretary 
of the Interior that innocent parties have paid the fees and commissions 
and excess payments required upon the location of claims under the act 
entitled "An act to amend an act entitled 'An act to enable honorably 
discharged soldiers and sailors, their widows and orphan children, to 
acquirehomesteadson the public lands of the United States,' and amend- 
ments thereto," approved March third eighteen hundred and seventy- 
three, and now incorporated in section twenty-three hundred and six of 
the Eevised Statutes of the United States, which said claims were, after 
such location, found to be fraudulent and void, and the entries or loca- 
tions made thereon canceled, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized 
to repay to such innocent parties the fees and commissions, and excess 
payments paid by them, upon the surrender of the receipts issued therefor 
l3y the receivers of public moneys, out of any money in the Treasury 
not otherwise appropriated, and shall be payable out of the appropria- 
tion to refund purchase money on lands erroneously sold by the United 
States. 

Sec. 2. In all cases where homestead or timber-culture on desert-land 
entries or other entries of public lands have heretofore or shall hereafter 
be canceled for conflict, or where, from any cause, the entry has been 
erroneously allowed and cannot be confirmed, the Secretary of the Inte- 
rior shall cause to be repaid to the person who made such entry, or to 
his heirs or assigns, the fees and commissions, amount of purchase 
money, and excess paid upon the same upon the surrender of the dupli- 
cate receipt and the execution of a proper relinquishment of all claims 
to said land, whenever such entry shall have been duly canceled by the 
Commissioner of the General Land Office, and in all cases where par 
ties have paid double-minimum price for land which has afterwards 
been found not to be within the limits of a railroad land grant, the ex- 
cess of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre shall in Uke manner be 
repaid to the purchaser thereof, or to the heirs or assigns. 

Sec. 3. The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to make the pay- 
ments herein provided for, out of any money in the Treasury not other- 
wise appropriated. 

Sec. 4. The Commissioner of the General Land Office shall make all 
necessary rules, and issue all necessary instructions, to carry the pro- 
visions of this act into effect ; and for the repayment of the purchase 
money and fees herein i)rovided for the Secretary of the Interior shall 
draw his warrant on the Treasury and the same shall be paid without 
regard to the date of the cancellation of the entries. 

Approved June 16, 1880. 



[No. 4-001.] 
CASH APPLICATION. 



No. . Land Office at 

(Date) - 



I, , of county, , do hereby apply to purchase the of section 

, in township , of range , containing acres, according to the returns 

of the surveyor general, for which I have agreed with the register to give at the rate 
of per acre. 



I, , register of the Land Office at - — , do hereby certify that the lot 

above described contains acres, as mentioned above, and that the price agreed 

upon is per acre. 

, Eegister, 



72 

[No. 4-131.] 
CASH EECEIPT. 

No. . Eeceiver's Office at , 

(Date) , 18—. 

Received from , of county, , the sum of dollars and 

cents ; being in full for the quarter of section No. — -. in township No. , of 

range No. , containing acres and hundredths, at $ per acre. 

, Beceiver. 

$ . 



[No. 4-189.] 

CASH CERTIFICATE. 

No. . 

(Date) , 18—. 

It is hereby certified that, in pursuance of law, , of county, Sifate of 

, on this day purchased of the register of this office the lot or of section No. 

, in township No. , of range No. containing , acres, at the rate of 

dollars and cents per acre, amounting to dollars and cents, for which the 

said ha — made payment in full as required by law. 

Noiv, therefore, he it known, that on presentation of this certificate to the Commis- 
sioner of the General Land Office, the said shall be entitled to receive a 

patent for the lot above described. 

, Register. 



[No. 4-536.] 

PREEMPTION DECLARATORY STATEMENT. 

receipt and certificate. 

Land Office at 



(Date) , 18—. 

Mr. has this day paid dollars, the register's and receivei-'s fees, 

to file a declaratory statement, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged. 

, Beceiver. 

No. . 

Mr. , having paid the fees, has this day filed in this office his declara- 
tory statement. No. , for of section , in township , of range , con- 
taining acres, settled upon , 18 — , being offered. 

• , Begister. 



[No. 4-535.] 
PREEMPTION DECLARATORY STATEMENT FOR OFFERED LANDS. 

I, , of , being , have, on the day of , A. D. 18 — , set- 
tled and improved the quarter of section No. , in township No. , of range 

No. , in the district of lands subject to sale at the land-office at , and contain- 
ing acres, which land has not yet been offered at public sale, and thus rendered 

subject to private entry; and I do hereby declare my intention to claim the said tract 
of laud as a i^re-emption right under section 2259 of the Revised Statutes of the United 
States. 

Given under my hand this day of , A. D. 18 — . 



In presence of • 



73 

[No. 4-534.] 
PKEEMPTION DECLARATORY STATEMENT FOR UNOFFERED LANDS. 

I, , of , being , have, since the 1st day of , A. D. 18 — , set- 
tled and improved the quarter of section No. , in township No. , of range 

No. , in the district of lands subject to sale at the land-ofiQce at , and contain- 
ing acres, which land liacl been rendered subject to private entry prior to my settle- 
ment thereon ; and I do hereby declare my intention to claim the said tract of land 
as a pre-emption right, under section 2259 of the Revised Statutes of the United States. 

Given under my hand this day of , A. D. 18 — . 



In presence of 



[No. 4-061.] 
AFFIDAVIT REQUIRED OF PRE-EMPTION CLAIMANT. 

I, , claiming the right of pre-emption, under section 2259 of the Re- 
vised Statutes of the United States, to the of section No. — — , of township No. 

, of range No. , subject to sale at , do solemnly that I have never had 

the benefit of any right of pre-emption under said section ; that I am not the owner of 
320 acres of land in any State or Territory of the United States, nor have I settled 
upon and improved said land to sell the same on speculation, but in. good faith to 
appropriate it to my own exclusive use or benefit ; and that I have not, directly or 
indirectly, made any agreement or contract, in any way or manner, with any person 
or persons whomsoever, by which the title which I may acquire from the Government 
of the United States should inure, in whole or in part, to the benefit of any person 
except myself. 



I, , of the Land Office at , do hereby certify that the above affida- 
vit was subscribed and sworn to before me this day of , A. D. 18 — . 



[No. 4-375.] 
PRE-EMPTION PROOF. 

TESTIMONY OF CLAIMANT. 

, being called as a witness in own behalf in support of pre- 
emption claim to the , testifies as follows : 

Ques. 1. What is your name ? (Be careful to give it in full, correctly spelled, in 
order that it may be here written exactly as you wish it written in the patent which 
you desire to obtain.) 

Ans. . 

Ques. 2. What is your age ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 3. Are you the head of a family, or a single person ; and, if the head of a 
family, of whom does your family consist ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 4. Are you a native-bom citizen of the United States ? If not, have you de- 
clared your intention to become a citizen, and have you obtained a certificate of nat- 
uralization ? * 

Ans. . 

Ques. 5. Is the land embraced in your pre-emption claim, above described, included 
within the limits of an incorporated town ; or has it been selected as the site of a city 
or town, and actually settled and occupied for purposes of trade and business ? 

Ans. . 

* In case the party has been natTiralized, or has only declared his intention to become a citizen, a cer- 
tified copy of his certificate of naturalization or declaration of intention, as the case may be, must bo 
furnished. 



74 

Ques. 6. Are there any indications of coal, salines, or minerals of any kind on this 
vahiable Y ^^' ^*^^^ ^^^* *^^^ ^^®' ^^^ whether the springs or mineral deposits are 



Ans. 

Ques. 7. Is the land more valuable for agricultural than mineral purposes ? 

Ques. 8. What is your post-ofQce address? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 9. Are you the owner of 320 acres of land in any State or Territory ? 

Ques. 10. Have you left or abandoned a residence on land of your own in this 

to reside upon the land above described? 
Ans. . 

Ques. 11. Have you ever filed a pre-emption declaratory statement for other land than 
that above described? (If so, give, as nearly as you can, the date thereof and de- 
scription of the land.) 

Ans. . 

Ques. 12. Have you heretofore made a pre-emption entry ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 13. Have you settled upon and improved the laud for which you now apnlv 
to sell the same on speculation ? ^ ii jj 

Ans. . 

Ques. 14 Have you given any mortgage on this land, and have you made any a^rree- 
ment to sell the same ? -' j & 

Ans. . 

Ques. 15. When did you make settlement on the land, and what constituted your 
nrst act of settlement ? "^ 

Ans. -. 

Ques. 16. What improvements, if any, were on the land at date of your settlement ? 
(it any, state who owned them, and whether they now belong to vou ^ 

Ans. . fc. J V 

Ques. IJ. What improvements have you made on this land subsequent to your first 
act of settlement? (Describe them, and state the total value of the improvements 
ownedby you thereon.) ^ 

Ans. , 

Ques. Ijj. W hen did you first establish your residence upon the land ? 

Ques. 19. Have you resided upon the land ever since ? 

Ans. . 

Ques, 20. What use have you made of the land? 
Ans. . 

set^rement'?^'''^ ^^^^ of the land, if any, has been broken and cultivated since yonr 
Ans. . 

rpLw.''+f "" CERTIFY that each question and answer in the foregoing testimony was 

«n?WK^ claimant before signed name thereto, and" that the same was 

subscribed and sworn to before me this day of 18—. 



IJ-OTE.— The officer before whom the testimony is taken shonld call the attention of the witne<,^ to 
the following section ot the Revised Statutes, and state to him that it s the SSse of thTftoveri, 
ment, it it be ascertained that he testifies falsely, to prosecute him to th?fui eSt of ?L law^ 

"Title lxx.— CRIMES.— Ch. 4. 

shall, moreover, thereafter, be mcapable of giving testimony in anv court of the United States untH 
such time as the judgment against him is reversed." [See sec. 1750. J iJmtea btates untU 



75 

[No. 4-374.] 

(The testimony of two witnesses, in this form, taken separately, required in each case.) 

PRE-EMPTION PEOOF. 

TESTIMONY OF WITNESS. 

, being called as a witness in support of tlie pre-emption claim of 



to the , testifies as follows : 



Ques. i. What is your post-office address ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 2. What is your occupation ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 3. Are you well acquainted with , the claimant in this case, and 

how long have you known ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 4. How old do you know or believe claimant to be ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 5. Is claimant the head of a family, or a single person ; and, if the head of a 
family, of whom does the family consist ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 6. Is claimant a native-born citizen of the United States ? (If not, state, if 
you can, what steps has taken to be naturalized.) 

Ans. . 

Ques. 7. Are you acquainted with the land above described ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 8. Do you live in the vicinity of the land ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 9. Is this land within the limits of an incorporated town, or has it been se- 
lected as the site of a city or town, and actually settled and occupied for purposes of 
trade and business ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 10. Are there any indications of coal, salines, or minerals of any kind on this 
land ? If so, state what they are, and whether the springs or mineral deposits are 
valuable. 

Ans. . 

Ques. 11. Is the land more valuable for agricultural than mineral purposes ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 12. Is the claimant the owner of 320 acres of land in any State or Territory? 
(State your knowledge in this regard.) 

Ans. . 

Ques. 13. Has the claimant left or abandoned a residence on land of own in 

this to reside upon the land above described? (State your knowledge in this 

regard.) 

Ans. . 

Ques. 14. Has the claimant ever filed a pre-emption declaratory statement for other 

land than that above described, or has heretofore made a pre-emption entry ? 

(State your knowledge in this regard.) 

Ans. . 

Ques. 15. Do you know whether the claimant has given any mortgage on this land, 
or made any agreement to sell the same ? (State your knowledge in this regard.) 

Ans. . 

Ques. 16. When did claimant first make settlement on the land, and what consti- 
tuted his first act of settlement ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 17. What improvements does the claimant possess on the land, and what is 
the value of the same ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 18. When did claimant first establish a residence upon the land? 

Ans. -. 

Ques. 19. Has claimant resided upon the land continuously ever since? 

Ans. — . 

Ques. 20. For what purpose has the land been used by claimant? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 21. How much of the said land, if any, has been broken and cultivated since 
the claimant made settlement thereon ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 22. Is it your belief that has acted in good faith in the settle- 



76 

ment and improvement of the said land under the pre-emption laws? Have you any 
knowledge to the contrary ? 

Ana. . 

Ques. 23. Are you interested in this claim ? 

Ans. . 



I HEREBY CERTIFY that wituess is a person of respectability ; that each question and 

answer in the foregoing testimony was read to before signed name 

thereto, and that the same was subscribed and sworn to before me this day of 

, 18-. 



1N"0TE. — The ofl&cer before whom the testimony is taken should call ttie attention of the witness to the 
following section of the Kevised Statutes, and state to him that it is the purpose of the government, if 
t be ascertained that he testifies falsely, to prosecute him to the full extent of the law : 

"Title lxx.— CEIMES.— Ch. 4. 

" Sec. 5392. Every person who, having taken an oath before a competent tribunal, officer, or person, in 
any case in which a" law of the United. States authorizes an oath to be administered, that he will testify, 
declare, depose, or certify truly, or that any written testimony, declaration, deposition, or certificate by 
him subsciibed is true, wilfully and contrary to such oath states or subscribes any material matter 
which he does not believe to be true, is guilty of perjury, and shall be punished by a fine of not more 
than two thousand doUars, and by imprisonment, at hard labor, not more than five years, and shall, 
moreover, thereafter, be incapable of giving testimony in any court of the United States until such time 
as the judgment against him is reversed." [See sec. 1750 ] 



[No. 4-007.] 
HOMESTEAD. 



Land Office at 



Application No. . {Date) , 18—. 

I, , of , do hereby apply to enter, under section 2289 of the Revised 

Statutes of the United States, the of section — '-, in township , of range , 

containing: acres. 



Land Office at 



{Date) , 18—. 

I, , register of the Land Ofl&ce, do hereby certify that the above apph- 

cation is for surveyed lands of the class which the applicant is legally entitled to enter 
under section 2289 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, and that there is no 
prior valid adverse right to the same. 

, Register . 



[No. 4-063.] 

HOMESTEAD. 

affidavit. 



Land Office at , 



{Date) , 18—. 

I, , of , having filed my application No. , for an entry under sec- 
tion 2289 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, do solemnly swear that [Jiere 
state ivhether the applicant is the head of a family, or over twenty-one years of age; whether 
a citizen of the United States, or has filed his declaration of intention of hccoming such; or, 
if under ticenty-one years of age, that he has served not less than fourteen days in the Army 

or Navy of the United States during actual \car ; that said application. No. , is made 

for his or her exclusive henefit; and that said entry is made for the purpose of actual setile- 
ment and cultivation, and not, directly or indirectly, for the use or benefit of any other person 
or persons whomsoevci'^, and that I have not heretofore had the benefit of said section 
2289. 



Sworn to and subscribed this day of , before 



Register \^or Receiver']. 



77 

• [No. 4-137.] 

Eeceiver's receipt, No. . Application No. . 

HOMESTEAD. 

Receiver's Office, , 

{Date) , 18—. 

Received from , of county, , the sum of dollars and 

cents, being the amount of fee and compensation of register and receiver for the entry 

of of section , in township , of range , under section , Revised 

Statutes of the United States. 

, Receiver, 

^ . 



[No. 4-348.] 

NOTICE OF INTENTION TO MAKE FINAL PROOF. 

Laxd Office at -, 

{Date) , 188-. 

I, , of , who made homestead application No. (or pre-emption 

declaratory statement No. ), for the , do hereby give notice of my in- 
tention to make final proof to establish my claim to the land above described, and 

that I expect to prove my residence and cultivation before , at , on 

, 188-, by two of the following witnesses: 

^,of . 

,of . 

, of . 

, of . 



{Signature of claimant.) 



Land Office at 



{Date) , 188-. 

Notice of the above ax^pli cation will be published in the , printed at , 

which I hereby designate as the newspaper published nearest the land described in 
said application. 

, Register. 

Notice to claimant. — Give time and place of proving up, and name and title of the officer before 
whom proof is to be made ; also, give names and post-office addresses of four neighbors, two of whom must 
appear as your witnesses. 



[No. 4-347.] 
NOTICE FOR PUBLICATION. 

Land Office at 



188-. 



Notice is hereby given that — — has filed notice of intention to make final 

proof before -, at , on , 188-, on homestead application 

jso. (or pre*emption declaratory statement No. ), for the — ^'-. 

He names as witnesses — ^ — , of — * — , and , of — . 



-, Register. 



!N'0TR. — This notice must also be posted in a conspicuous place in the Land Office for a period of 
thirty days prior to date of final proof. 



78 

[No. 4-347^.] 
' CONSOLIDATED NOTICE FOR PUBLICATION. 

Laxd Office at , 

, 188-. 

Notice is hereby given that the following named settlers have filed notice of inten- 
tion to make final proof on their resj)ective claims before , at , on 

, 188- viz : 

, on homestead application No. , for the '• — . 

Witnesses : , of , and , of . 

, on pre-emption declaratory statement No. , for the . 



Witnesses : , of , and , of . 

, Register. 



[No. 4-227.] 
CEETIFICATE AS TO THE POSTING OF NOTICE. 

Land Office at , 

{Date) , 18—. 

Register, do hereby certify that a notice, a printed copy of which 



is hereto attached, was by me posted in a conspicuons place in my office for a period 

of thirty days, I having first posted said notice on the day of , 18 — . 

, Register. 



[No. 4-070.] 

HOMESTEAD PROOF. 

final affidavit eequired of homestead claimants, section 2291 of the re- 
vised STATUTES OF THE UNITED STATES. 

having made a homestead entry of the section No. , in 



township No. , of range No. , subject to entry at , under section 2289 of 

the Revised Statutes of the United States, do now apply to perfect my claim thereto 
by virtue of section 2291 of the Revised Statutes of the United States ; and for that 

purpose do solemnly that I am a citizen of the United States ; that I have made 

actual settlement upon and have cultivated said land, having resided thereon since the 

day of , 18 — , to the present time ; that no part of said land has been alienated, 

except as provided in section 2288 of the Revised Statutes, but that I am the sole J)ona 
fide owner as an actual settler ; that I will bear true allegiance to the Government of 
the United States ; and further, that I have not heretofore perfected or abandoned an 
entry made under the homestead laws of the United States. 



I, '- , of the Land OfBce at , do hereby certify that the above affidavit 

was subscribed and sworn to before me this day of , 18 — . 



79 

[No. 4-369.] 

(This form mil b© used both in final homestead proof and commutation proof) 

HOMESTEAD PROOF.— TESTIMONY OF CLAIMANT. 

-, being called as a witness in own behalf in support of home- 



stead entry for , testifies as follows : 

Ques. 1. What is your name, written in full, and correctly spelled; your age, and 
X)Ost-office address ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 2. Are you a native of the United States, or have you been naturalized? (See 
note.) 

Ans. . 

Ques. 3. When was your house built on the land, and when did you establish ac- 
tual residence thereon ? (Describe said house and other improvements which you 
have placed on the land, giving total value thereof.) 

Ans. . 

Ques. 4. Of whom does your family consist, and have you and your family resided 
continuously on the land since first establishing residence thereon ? (If unmarried, 
state the fact. ) 

Ans. . 

Ques. 5. For what period or periods have you been absent from the homestead since 
making settlement, and for what purpose ; and, if tem^jorarily absent, did your family 
reside upon and cultivate the land during such absence ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 6. How mucb of the land have you cultivated, and for how many seasons have 
you raised crops thereon? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 7. Are there any indications of coal, salines, or minerals of any kind on the 
land ? (If so, describe what they are, and state whether the land is more valuable for 
agricultural than for mineral purposes.) 

Ans. . 

Ques. 8. Have you ever made any other homestead entry ? (If so, describe the 
same.) 

Ans. . 

Ques. 9. Have you sold, conveyed, or mortgaged any portion of the land ; and, if so, 
to whom, and for what purpose ? 

Ans. . 



I hereby certify that the foregoing testimony was read to the claimant before bein< 
subscribed, and was sworn to before me this day of , 18 — . 



IsoTE. — If naturalized, the claimant must file a certified copy of his certificate of naturalization. In 
a commuted homestead a foreign-bom claimant must file a certified copy of his declaration of inten- 
tion. In making proof the party must surrender his original duplicate receipt or file aindavit of its 
loss. 

■ USToTE. — The officer before whom the testimony is taken should call the attention of the -svitness to 
the following section of the Eevised Statutes, and state to him that it is the purpose of the govern- 
ment, if it be ascertained that he testifies falsely, to prosecute him to the full extent of the law. 

"Title LXX.— CEIMES.— Ch. 4. 

"Sec. 5392. Every person who, having taken an oath before a competent tribunal, officer, or person, in 
any case in which a law of the United States authorizes an oath to be administeied, that he will testify, 
declare, depose, or certify truly, or that any written testimony, declaration, deposition, or certificate 
by him subscribed is true, willfully and contrary to such oath states or subscribes any material matter 
which he does not believe to be true, is guilty of perjury, and shall be punished by a fine of not more 
than two thousand dollars, and by imprisonment, at hard labor, not more than five years, and shall, 
moreover, thereafter, be incapable of giving testimony in any court of the United States-untii such 
time as the judgment against him is reversed." [See sec, 1750.] 



80 

[No. 4-370.] 

[The testimony of two witnesses, in this form, taken separately, required in each case. This form 
will be used both in final homestead proof and commutation proof.] 

HOMESTEAD PROOF.— TESTIMONY OF WITNESS. 

-, being called as a witness in support of the homestead entry of 



for , testifies as follows 



Ques. I. What is your occupation, and where is your residence ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 2. Have you been well acquainted wdth ■ , the claimant in this 

case, ever since he made his homestead entry No. ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 3. Was claimant qualified to make said entry? (State whether the settler 
was a citizen of the United States ; over the age of twenty-one years, or the head of a 
family, and whether he ever made a former homestead entry. ) 

Ans. . 

Ques. 4. When did claimant settle upon the homestead, and at what date did he 
establish actual residence thereon? (Describe the dwelling and other improvements, 
giving total value thereof.) 

Ans. . 

Ques. 5. Have claimant and family resided continuously on the homestead since 
first establishing residence thereon ? (If settler is unmarried, state the fact.) 

Ans. . 

Ques. 6. For what period or periods has the settler been absent from the land since 
making settlement, and for what purpose ; and if temporarily absent, did claimant's 
family reside upon and cultivate the land during such absence ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 7. How much of the homestead has the settler cultivated, and for how many 
seasons did he raise crops thereon? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 8. Are there any indications of coal, salines, or minerals of any kind on the 
homestead ? (If so describe what they are, and state whether the land is more valuable 
for agricultural than for mineral purposes. ) 

Ans. . 

Ques. 9. Has the claimant mortgaged, sold, or contracted to sell any portion of said 
homestead ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 10. Are you interested in this claim, and do you think the settler has acted in 
entire good faith in perfecting this entry ? 

Ans. . 



I hereby certify that the witness is a person of respectability ; that the foregoing 

testimony was read to him before being subscribed, and was sworn to before me this 

day of 18 — . 



Note. — The officer before whom the testimony is taken should call the attention of the witness to 
the following section of the Revised Statutes, and state to him that it is the purpose of the Govern- 
ment, if it be ascertained that he testifies falsely, to prosecute him to the fuU extent of the law : 

"Title lxx.— CRIMES.— Ch. 4. 

"Sec. 5392. Every person who, having taken an oath before a competent tribunal, officer, or person, 
in any case in which a law of the United States authorizes an oath to be administered, that he will 
testify, declare, depose, or certify tmly, or that any written testimony, declaration, deposition, or cer- 
tificate by him subscribed is true, willfully and contrary to such oath states or subscribes any material 
matter which he docs not believe to be true, is guilty oif perjury, and shall be punished by a fine of not 
more than two thousand dollars, and by imprisonment, at hard labor, not more than five years, and 
shall, moreover, thereafter, bo incapable of giving testimony in any court of the United States until 
such time as the judgment against him is reversed." [See sec. 1750.] 



81 

[No. 4-140.] 
Receiver's Final Receipt, No. . Apj^lication No. . 



HOMESTEAD. 



Receiver's Office 



(Date) , 18—. 

Received from , of county, , the sum of dollars and 

cents, being the balance of payment required by law for the entry of the of sec- 
tion , in township , of range , containing acres, under section 

of the Revised Statutes of the United States. 

, Beceiver. 

$ . 



[No. 4-196.] 

Final Certificate No. . Application No. 

HOMESTEAD. 



Land Office at 



(Date) , 18—. 

It is hereby certified, pursuant to section 2291, Revised Statutes of the United 

States, that , of county, , has made x)ayment in full for 

of section No. , in townshixD No. , of range No. , containing acres. 

Now, therefore, be it known, that on presentation of this certificate to the Commis- 
sioner of the General Land Office, the said shall be entitled to a patent 

for the tract of land above described. 

, Register. 



[No. 4-069.] 

[To be used in cases of commuted homestead entries. For taking the testimony of claimant and his 
witnesses in making commutation proof, use the prescribed forms for "Homestead Proof."] 

COMMUTED HOMESTEAD AFFIDAVIT. 

[Section 2301 of the Ecvised Statutes of the United States.] 

I, , claiming the right to commute, under section 2301 of the Revised 

Statutes of the United States, my homestead entry No. , made ux3on the sec- 
tion , township , range , do solemnly swear that I made settlement upon 

saidlandonthe day of , 18 — , and that since such date, to wit : on the day 

of , 18 — , I have built a house on said land, and have continued to reside therein 

up to the present time ; that I have broken and cultivated — — acres of said land, and 
that no part of said land has been alienated, except as provided in section 2288 of the 
Revised Statutes, but that I am the sole hona fide owner as an actual settler. 

I further swear that I have not heretofore perfected or abandoned an entry made 
under the homestead laws of the United States. 



Land Office, . 

Subscribed and sworn to before me this day of . 

, Bcgister. 

6 cm 



82 

[No. 4-066.] 



ADJOINING FARM HOMESTEAD. 

AFFIDAVIT. 



Land Office at 



(Date) ' , 18—. 

I, , of , having filed my application No. , for an entry nndei 

the provisions of the act of Congress approved May 20, 1862, entitled ''An Act to se- 
cure homesteads to actual settlers on the public domain," do solemnly swear that 

Ihere state u-lietlier the applicant is the head of a family, or over twenty-one 

years of age; whether a citizen of the United States, or has filed his declaration of intention 
of becoming such, or, if under twenty-one years of age,.that he has served not less than four- 
teen days in the Army or Navy of the United States during actual war'] ; that said entry is 
made for my own exclusive benefit, and not directly or indirectly for the benefit or 
use of any other person or persons whomsoever ; neither have I heretofore perfected 
or abandoned an entry made under this act ; that the land embraced in said applica- 
tion No. is intended for an adjoining farm homestead ; that I now own and reside 

upon an original farm containing acres, and no more ; that the same comprises 

the of section , township , range , and is contiguous to the tract this 

day applied for. 



Sworn to and subscribed this day of , before 



of the Land Office. 



[No. 4-067.] 

FINAL AFFIDAVIT REQUIRED OF ADJOINING FARM HOMESTEAD CLAIM- 
ANTS. 

[Section 2291, Revised Statntes.J 

I, , having made a homestead entry of the section No. , in 

township No. , of range No. , subject to entry at , for the use of an ad- 
joining farm owned and occupied by me on the of section No. , in township 

No. , of range No. , nnder section 2289 of the Revised Statutes, do now apply 

to perfect my claim thereto by virtue of section 2291 of the same, and for that pur- 
pose do solemnly that I am a citizen of the United States ; that I have continued 

to oyYVL and occupy the land constituting my original farm, having resided thereon 

since the day of , 18 — , to the present time, and have made use of the said 

entered tract as a part of my homestead, and have improved the same in the follow- 
ing manner, viz : . That no part of said land has been alienated, but that I am 

the sole hona fide owner as an actual settler ; that I will bear true allegiance to the 
Government of the United States ; and, further, that I have not heretofore perfected 
or abandoned an entry under the homestead laws. 



I, , of the land ofiSce at , do hereby certify that the above affidavit 

was taken and subscribed before me this day of , 18 — . 



[No. 4-071.] 



[To be used in making final proof in cases where pre-emption filings have been changed to homestead 
entries under the acts of March 3, 1877, and May 27, 1878.] 

PRE-EMPTION HOMESTEAD AFFIDAVIT. 

, having changed my pre-emption declaratory statement No. , 



filed the day , 18 — , alleging settlement the day of , 18 — , for the 

section No. , in towusbip No. , of range No. — —, to homesread entry 

original No. , district of lands subject to entry at , under the acts of Congress 

approved March 3, 1877, and May 27, 1878, do solemnly swear that I have never had 
the benefit of any right of i^re-emption under section 2259 of the Revised Statutes of 



83 

the United States ; that I have not heretofore filed o. pre-emption declaratory state- 
ment for another tract of land ; that I was not the owner of three hundred and 
twenty acres of land in any State or Territory of the United States at any time during 
the above-mentioned period of settlement under the pre-emption statutes ; that I did 

not remove from my own land within the State of to make the settlement above 

referred to ; nor have I settled upon and improved said land to sell the same on spec- 
ulation, but in good faith to appropriate it to my exclusive use or benefit ; and that 
I did not, during the period of pre-emption settlement above mentioned, directly or 
indirectly, make any agreement or contract, in any way or manner, with any person 
or persons whatsoever, by which the title which I might acquire from the Government 
of the United States would inure, in whole or in part, to the benefit of any person 
except myself. 

I, — , of the land office , do hereby certify that the above affidavit 

was aubscribed and sworn to before me this day of , 18 — . 



[No. 4-018. 3 

ADDITIONAL HOMESTEAD.— ACT OF MARCH 3, 1879. 

Application > Land Office at , 

No. . 5 • (Date) , 18—. 

I, , of , do hereby apply to enter, under the act of March 3, 1879, 

the of section , in township , of range , containing acres, as ad- 
ditional to my entry No. , for the of , section , in township , of 



Land Office at 



(Date) , 18—. 

I, , register of the land office, do hereby certify that the above appli- 
cation is for surveyed lands of the class which the applicant is legally entitled to 
enter under the act of March 3, 1879, and that there is no prior valid adverse right 
to the same. 



-, Register. 



[No. 4-086.] 
ADDITIONAL HOMESTEAD.— ACT OF MAECH 3, 1879. 



AFFIDAVIT. 



Land Office at 
(Date) 



I, , of , having filed my application No. , for an entry under the 

act of March 3, 1879, do solemnly swear that \Jiere state ivhether the applicant is the head 
of a family, or over tiventy-one years of age; whether a citizen of the United States, or has 
filed his declaration of intention of becoming such; or, if under twenty -one years of age, 
that he has served not less than fourteen days in the Army or Navy of the United States 

during actual ivar'] ; that said application No. is made for my exclusive benefit ; 

and that said entry is made for the purpose of actual settlement and cultivation, and 
not, directly or indirectly, for the use or benefit of any other person or persons whom- 
soever, and that I have not heretofore had the benefit of said act. 



Sworn to and subscribed this day of , before 



Register \_or Receiver']. 



84 

[No. 4-273.] 
SOLDIER'S HOMESTEAD. 

(Section 2304 of the Eevised Statutes of the United States.) 
HOMESTEAD DECLARATION. 

No. — -. Land Office at , 

(Date) , 18—. 

I, , do hereby declare and give notice that I claim for a homestea d, 

under section 2304 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, granting homesceads 

to honorably-discharged soldiers and sailors, their widows and orphans, the of 

section , of township , of range , containing acres ; and I further de- 
clare that I take the said tract of land for actual settlement and cultivation and for 
my own use and benefit. 



Per 



His Attorney in fact. 



[No. 4-015.] 
SOLDIER'S HOMESTEAD. 

(Section 2304 of the Eevised Statutes of the United States.) 
APPLICATION. 



Land Office at , 



(Date) , 18—. 

I, , hereby apply to enter, under section 2304 of the Revised Statutes of 

the United States, the of section , of township , of range , containing 

acres ; and for which I filed my declaration on the day of , through 

, my duly-appointed agent. 



I, , register of the land-office at , do hereby certify that 



filed the above application at this office on the day of , and that he has 

taken the oath and paid the fees and commissions prescribed by law. 



Begister. 



[No. 4-065.] 
SOLDIER'S H0MESTEA.D. 

(Section 2304 of the Eevised. Statutes of the United States.) 
affidavit. 
No. . Land Office at 



(Date) , is—. 

I, , of , do solemnly swear that I am a , of the age of twenty- 

ono years and a citizen of the United States ; that I served for ninety days in com- 
pany , regiment. United States volunteers ; that I was mustered into the 

United States military service the day of , and was honorably discharged 

therefrom on the day of ; that I have since borne true allegiance to the Gov- 
ernment; and that I have made my application, No. , to enter a tract of laud under 

section 2304 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, givinghomcsteads to honorably- 
discharged soldiers and sailors, their widows and orphan children ; that I have made 
said application in good faith, and that I take said homestead for the purpose of actual 
settlement and cultivation, and for my own exclusive use and benefit, and for the use 
and benefit of no other person or persons whomsoever ; and that I have not heretofore 
acquired a title to atractof land under the homestead laws, or voluntarily relinquished 
or abandoned an entry heretofore made under said laws : so help me God. 



Sworn to and subscribed before me, , register of the Laud Office at 

this day of , 18 — . 

, Begister. 



85 

[No. 4-008.] 

SOLDIERS' ADDITIONAL HOMESTEAD ENTRY UNDER SECTION 2306 OF THE 
REVISED STATUTES OF THE UNITED STATES. 

APPLICATIOX. 

No. . Land Office at , 

(Date) , 18—. 

I, , of county, State of , "being entitled to the benefits of 

section 2306 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, granting additional lands 
to soldiers and sailors who served in the \yar of the rebellion, do hereby apply to 

enter the of section , of township , of range , containing acres, 

as additional to my original homestead on the of section , of township , 

of range , containing acres, which I entered , 18 — , per homestead No. 



Land Office at , 

(Date) , 18- 

I, , register of the Land Office at , do hereby certify that 



filed the above application before me for the tract of land therein described, 
and that he has paid the fee and commissions prescribed by law. 

, Register. 



[No. 4-197.] 

SOLDIERS' ADDITIONAL HOMESTEAD ENTRY UNDER SECTION 2306 OF THE 
REVISED STATUTES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Land Office at 



(Date) , 18—. 

Final Certificate \ 5 Application 

No. . 5 ^ No. . 

It is hereby certified that, pursuant to the provisions of section 2306 of the Revised 

Statutes of the United States, has paid the fee and commissions, and 

made entry of the of section , of township , of range , containing 

acres, which, added to the quantity embraced in his original homestead No. , on 

which he made his final proof, as per certificate No. , does not exceed 160 acres. 

Now, therefore, be it known that, on presentation of this certificate to the Commis- 
sioner of the General Land Office, the said shall be entitled to a patent 

for the tract of land above described. 



[No. 4-079.] 

INDIAN HOMESTEAD UNDER ACT MARCH 3, 1875. 

affidavit. 

I, , of r, having filed my application No. for an entry under 

the provisions of the act of Congress of March 3, 1875, do solemnly swear that I am 

an Indian, formerly of the tribe; that I was born in the United States; that I 

have abandoned my relations with that tribe and adopted the habits and pursuits of 
civilized life [/(ere state tvhether the applicant is twenty-one years of age, or the head of a 
family"] ; that I desire said land for the purj)ose of actual settlement and cultivation, 
and not, directly or indirectly, for the use or benefit of any other person or persons 
whomsoever ; and that I have not heretofore had the benefit of said act. 



Sworn and subscribed before me this day of , 18 — . 



Register lor Receiver']. 



86 

[No. 4-077.] 

CORROBORATIVE AFFIDAVIT— INDIAN HOMESTEAD— UNDER ACT ISIARCH 

3, ]875. 



and do solemnly swear that we are well acquainted with 

, and know that he is an Indian, formerly of the tribe ; that he was 

born in the United States ; that he has abandoned his relations with that tribe, and 
adopted the habits and pursuits of civilized life Ihere state that he is twenty-one years of 
age, or, if not, that he is the head of a family}. 



Sworn to and subscribed before me this day of , 18- 



[No. 4-009.] 
TIMBER-CULTURE— ACT OF JUNE 14, 1878. 

Application No. 

I, , hereby apply to enter, under the provisions of the act of June 14, 

1878, entitled ''An Act to amend an act entitled 'An Act to encourage the growth of 

timber on the Western Prairies,'" the of section , in township , of range 

, containing acres. 



Land Office at , 

(Date) , 18—. 

I, , register of the Land Office, do hereby certify that the above appli- 
cation is for the class of lands which the applicant is legally entitled to enter under 
the provisions of the timber-culture act of June 14, 1878 ; that there is no prior valid 
adverse right to the same, and that the land therein described, together with the lands 
heretofore entered under this act and the acts of which this is amendatory in the said 
section, does not exceed one-quarter thereof. 

, Begister. 



[No. 4-073.] 
TIMBER-CULTURE— ACT OF JUNE 14, 1878. 

affidavit. 

Land Office at 

(Date) - 



1. , having filed my application No. , for an entry under the pro- 
visions of an act entitled "An Act to amend an act entitled 'An Act to encourage the 

growth of timber on the Western Prairies,'" approved June 14, 1878, do solemnly 

that I am the head of a family lor over twenty-one years of age}, and a citizen of the 
United States lor have declared my intention to hecome such} ; that the section of land 
specified in my said application is com]30sed exclusively of prairie lands, or other lauds 
devoid of timber; that this tiling and entry is made for the cultivation of timber, aud 
for my own exclusive use and benefit ; that I have made the said ai)pli cation in good 
faith, and not for the purpose of speculation, or directly or indirectly for the use or 
benefit of any other person or persons whomsoever ; that I intend to hold and culti- 
vate the land, and to fully comply with the provisions of this said act ; and that I 
have not heretofore made an entry under this act, or the acts of which this is amend- 
atory. 



Sworn to and subscribed before me this day of , 18 — . 



87 

[No. 4-142.] 

TIMBER-CULTUEE. 
Receiver's Receipt, \ 5 Application, 
No. . S I ^^' • 

IIeceiver's Office, 



(Date) , 18—. 

Received of the sum of dollars cents, being the amount of fee 

and compensation of register and receiver for the entry of of section , in 

township , of range , under the first section of the act of Congress approved 

June 14, 1878, entitled "An Act to amend an act entitled 'An Act to encourage the 
growth of timber on the Western Prairies.'" 

$ . , Beceiver. 



[No. 4-274.] 
DESERT LAND— ACT OF MARCH 3, 1877. 

DECLAKATION. 

No. . Land Office at , 

(Date) , 18—. 

I, , of county, of , being duly sworn, depose and declare, 

that I am a citizen of the United States, of the age of , and a resident of said 

county and , and by occupation a ; that I intend to reclaim a tract of desert 

land, not exceeding one section, by conducting water upon the same, within three 
years from date, under the provisions of the act of Congress approved March 3, 1877, 
entitled ''An Act to provide for the sale of desert lands in certain States and Terri- 
tories." The desert land which I intend to reclaim does not exceed one section, and is 

situated in county, in the land district, and is described as follows, to wit : 

the of section No. , township No. , range No. , containing acres. 

I further depose, that I have made no other declaration for desert lands under the 
provisions of said act ; that the land above described will not, without irrigation, 
produce an agricultural crop ; that there is no timber growing upon said land ; that 
there is not, to my knowledge, within the limits thereof, any vein or lode of quartz, 
or other rock in place, bearing gold, silver, cinnabar, lead, tin, or copper, or any 
deposit of coal ; that there is not within the limits of said land, to my knowledge, any 
placer, cement, gravel, or other valuable mineral deposit or salines ; that no portion 
of said land is claimed for mining purposes, under the local customs or rules of miners 
or otherwise ; that no portion of said land is worked for mineral during any part of 
the year by any person or persons; that said land is essentially non-mineral land; 

that I became acquainted with said laud by ; and that my declaration therefor is 

not made for the purpose of fraudulently obtaining title to mineral land, timber land, 
or agricultural land, but for the purpose of faithfully reclaiming, within three years 
from the date hereof, by conducting water thereon, a tract of land which is desert 
land within the meaning of the act. 



Land Office at 



(Date) , 18—. 

I hereby certify that the foregoing declaration was this day sworn to and subscribed 
before me. 

, Begistef)\ 

, Beceiver. 



88 

[No. 4-074.] 
—ACT OF ] 

AFFIDAVIT. 



1877. 



No. . Land Office at , 

(Date) , 18—. 

I, , of county, , beiuj; duly sworn, declare, upon oath, that I 

am a resident of said county and ; that I am of the age of , and by occupation 

a ', that I am well acquainted with the character of each and every legal subdi- 
vision of the following-described land : the section No. , township No. , 

range No. , containing acres : that I became acquainted with said land by 

; that I have been acquainted with it for years last past ; that I have fre- 
quently passed over it; that my knowledge of said land is such as to enable me to 
testify understandingly concerning it ; that the same is desert land within the mean- 
ing oi" the second section of the act of Congress approved March 3, 1877, entitled "An 
act to provide for the sale of desert lands in certain States and Territories" ; that said 
land will not, without artificial irrigation, produce any agricultural crop ; that no 
agricultural crop has ever been raised or cultivated on said land for the reason that it 
does not contain sufficient moisture for successful cultivation; that the same is essen- 
tially dry and arid land, wholly unfit for cultivation without artificial irrigation ; 
that said land cannot be successfully cultivated without reclamation by conducting 
water thereon ; that said land has hitherto been unappropriated, unoccupied, and 
unsettled, because it has been impossible to cultivate it successfully on account of its 
dry and arid condition ; that it is a fact well known, patent, and notorious that the 

same will not, in its natural condition, produce any crop, that the land is the ; 

that there is no timber growing thereon, but that it is devoid of timber ; that there is 
not, to my knowledge, within the limits thereof, any vein or lode of quartz, or other 
rock in place, bearing gold, silver, cinnabar, lead, tin, or copper, or any deposit of 
*^.oal; that there is not, within the limits of said land, to my knowledge, any placer, 
V ement, gravel, or other valuable mineral deposit or salines ; that no portion of said 
]..nd is claimed for mining purposes under the local customs or rules of miners or 
otherwise ; that no portion of said land is worked for mineral during any part of the 
year by any person or persons ; that said land is essentially non-mineral land ; that I 
am not interested in any way or manner, directly or indirectly, present or prospective, 
in any application or declaration made or to be made for said land or in the land 
itself, or in the title which may by any person or in any manner be acquired thereto. 



[No. 4-199.] 
DESERT LAND CERTIFICATE. 
No. . United States Land Office, 



18—. 



It is hereby certified that under the provisions of the act of Congress approved March 
3, 1877, entitled "An Act to provide for the sale of desert lands in certain States and 

Territories," has this day filed in this office his declaration of intention 

to reclaim the following-described tract of land, viz : ; that he has proven to 

our satisfaction that the said tract of laud is desert land as defined in the second 

section of said act, and that h© has paid to the receiver the sum of dollars, being 

at the rate of twenty-five cents per acre for the land above described. 

It is, therefore, further certified, that if within three years from the date hereof the 

said , his heirs or legal representatives, shall satisfactorily prove that the 

said land has been reclaimed by carrying water thereon, and shall pay to the receiver 
the additional sum of one dollar per acre for the land above described, he or they shall 
be entitled to receive a patent therefor under the provisions of the said act. 

, Register. 

% . , Heceiver. 

Note. — Tlie word "heirs" is substituted in this form for the word "assignee," the Secretary of the 
Interior having declined to recognize the assignment of desert land claims. 



89 

[No. 4-372.] 
FIXAL PROOF UXDER^THE DESERT LAXD ACT OF ^lAECH 3, 1877. 

DEPOSITION OF APPLICA^sT. 

Ques. 1. State your name, age, occupation, and residence. 

Ans. . 

Ques. 2. Are you a citizen of the United States, or, if not, have you declared your 
intention to become such? (If not native born, i^roof-record must be furnished.) 

Ans. . 

Ques. 3. If you have heretofore made a desert land entry, give the number and date 
thereof, and describe the land embraced therein. 

Ans. . 

Ques. 4. Have you conducted water upon the land embraced in said entry, and irri- 
gated the same, and reclaimed it from its former desert cdaracter to such an extent 
that it will now produce an agricultural crop ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 5. What crops have you raised upon said land in each and every year since 
your first entry thereon under your declaration No. ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 6. How many acres have been sown or planted in each year, in what croiis, 
and ux)on what portion or subdivision of the laud, and what amount of such crops has 
been actually produced ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 7. What croi)s, if any, had been grown upon the land, or upon any poj;tion 
thereof, and, if any, uxDon what portion, previous to your entry thereon ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 8. Would the land, or any portion of it, by cultivation without irrigation, 
have produced any agricultural crop whatever, and, if so, what crop ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 9. AYas there any natural water supply upon such land sufficient to fertilize 
or irrigate the whole or any portion thereof, and, if so, what portion ? State fully. 

Ans. . 

Ques. 10. Has the amount of water conveyed upon the land in any one season been 
suificient to so irrigate the entire tract as to render the same productive, and, if so, 
what crox^ or crops would such irrigation produce f 

Ans. . 

Ques. 11. Has the whole tract been irrigated and cultivated by you in any one 
season ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 12. Has each smallest legal subdivision or portion of less than forty acres 
been irrigated or cultivated either during one season or different seasons since the 
date of your entry ? 

Ans. . 

Qnes. 13. How much water per acre has been conducted upon the land, or upon any 
portion under cultivation, in any one season ; for how long a time was it so conducted 
upon the land, and at what times or seasons ? State fully. 

Ans. . 

Ques. 14. In what manner was such water conveyed upon the land, whether by 
pipes or ditches, and how was it distributed over and through the soil ? State particu- 
larly and in detail, and describe the ditches as to their width, depth, direction through 
or around the land, and give the length of each. 

Ans. . 

Ques. 15. Have you at this time the right and proprietorship of water sufficient and 
available to continue the irrigation of this tract and make perpetual reclamation of 
the land, and is it your i^urpose so to continue its use upon this land, and for the pur- 
poses of such reclamation ? 

Ans . . 

Ques. 16. How was such right or proprietorship obtained, and by what tenure do 
you now hold the same ? (Duly verified abstract of title must be furnished.) 

Ans. . 

Ques. 17. Have you the sole and entire interest in said entry, and in the tract cov- 
ered thereby, and the water appropriated to irrigate the same ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 18. Has any oiher person, individual, or company of individuals any interest 
whatever in said entry, tract, or water appropriation? If so, give the name, resi- 
dence, and occupation of each such person, and the nature, amount, and extent of 
such interest. 

Ans. . 



90 

Ques. 19. Have you made or become the assignee of any otlier entry, or have you 
any interest, direct or indirect, in any other entry under the desert land act ? 

Ans. . 

(Signature.) . 

I HEREBY CERTIFY that each question and an&wer in the foregoing deposition was 

read to the applicant before signed name thereto, and that the same was 

subscribed and sworn to before me this day of , 18 — . 

, Register . 

, Receiver. 

Note. — Tlie officer before whom the deposition is taken should call the attention of the -witness to 
the following section of the Kevised Statutes, and state to him that it is the purpose of the Govern- 
ment, if it be ascertained that he testifies falsely, to prosecute him to the full extent of the law : 

"Title Lxx.— CRIMES.— Ch. 4. 

"Sec. 5392. Every person who, having taken an oath before a competent tribunal, officer, or person, 
in any case in which a law of the United States authorizes an oath to be administered, that he will 
testify, declare, depose, or certify truly, or that any written testimony, declaration, deposition, or cer- 
tificate by him subscribed is true, willfully and contrary to such oath states or subscribes any material 
matter which he does not believe to be true, is guilty oi" perjury, and shall be punished by a fine of not 
more than two thousand dollars, and by imprisonment, at hard labor, not more than five years, and 
shall, moreover, thereafter, be incapable of giving testimony in any court of the United States until 
such time as the judgment against him is reversed." [See sec. 1750.'] 



[No. 4-73.] 

[The deposition of two witnesses, in this form, taken separately, required in each case.] 

FINAL PEOOF UNDER THE DESERT LAND ACT OF MARCH 3, 1877. 

DEPOSITION OF WITNESS. 

Ques. 1. state your name, age, residence, and occupation. 

Ans. . 

Ques. 2. Are you acquainted with , who made desert land entry No. 

, on the day of , A. D. 18 — , upon the ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 3. How long have you known the party who made this entry ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 4. Have you personal knowledge of this land ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 5. Has water been conducted upon the land embraced in said entry so as to 
irrigate and reclaim the same from its former desert condition to such extent that the 
same will produce an agricultural crop ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 6. What crops have been raised upon said land in each and every year since 
its first entry by , under declaration No. , and by whom ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 7. How many acres have been sown or planted in each year, in what crops, 
and upon what portion or subdivision of the land, and what amount of crops have 
been produced thereon, and by whom ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 8. What crops, if any, had been grown upon the land, or upon any portion 
thereof, previous to the entry of thereon ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 9. Would the land, or any portion of it, by cultivation without irrigation, 
have produced any agricultural crop whatever, and, if so, what crop ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 10. Was there any natural water supply upon such land sufficient to fertilize 
or irrigate the whole, or any portion thereof, and, if so, what portion ? State fully. 

Ans. . 

Ques. 11. Has the amount of water conveyed upon said land by in any 

one season been sufficient to so irrigate the entire tract as to render the same produc- 
tive, and, if so, what crop or crops would such irrigation produce ? 

Ans. . 



91 

Ques. 12. Has the wliole tract been irrigated and cultivated by in any 

one season ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 13. Has each smallest legal subdivision or portion of less than forty acres been 
irrigated or cultivated either during one season or different seasons since the date of 
entry ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 14. How much water per acre has been conducted upon the land, or ui)on any 
portion under cultivation in any one season ; for how long a time was it so conducted 
upon the land, aud at what times or seasons ? State fully. 

Ans. . 

Ques. 15. In what manner was such water conveyed upon the land, whether by 
pipes or ditch\3s, and how was it distributed over and through the soil? State ]iartic- 
ularly and in detail, and describe the ditches as to their width, depth, direction 
through or around the tract, and give the length of each. 

Ans. . 

Ques. 16. Has at this time the right and proprietorship of water suffi- 
cient and available to continue the irrigation of this tract and make iDcrpetual recla- 
mation of the land ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 17. How did you become acquainted with the facts relative to the irrigation 
of said land ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 18. Have you any interest, direct or indirect, in this entry, in the land cov- 
ered thereby, or in the water supply used in its irrigation ? 

Ans. . 

{Signature.) . 

I HEEEBY CERTIFY that wi tucss is a pcrsou of resx-)ectability ; that each question 

and answer in the foregoing testimony was read to before signed name 

thereto, and that the same was subscribed and sworn to before me this day of , 

18—. 

, Register. 

, Beceivei'. 

XOTE. — The oflficer before whom the deposition is taken shonld call the attention of the witness to the 
following section of the Eevised Statutes, and state to him that it is the purpose of the Government, 
if it be ascertained that he testifies falsely, to prosecute him to the full extent of the law 

"Title lxx.— CKIMES.— Ch. 4, 

"Sec. 5392. Every person who, having taken an oath before a competent tribunal, officer, or person, 
in any case in which a law of the United States authorizes an oath to be administered, that he will 
testify, declare, depose, or certify truly, or that any written testimony, declaration, deposition, or 
certificate by him subscribed is true, willfully and contrary to such oath states or subscribes any 
material matter which Jie does not believe to be true, is guilty of perjury, and shall be punished by a 
fine of not more than two thousand dollars, and by imprisonment at hard labor, not more than five 
years, and shall, moreover, thereafter, be incapable of giving testimony in any court of the United 
States until such time as the judgment against him is reversed." [See sec. 1750.] 



[No. 4-143.] 

DESERT LAND— ACT OF LIAKCH 3, 1877. 

Receiver's Final Receipt, No. . Declaration No. . 

LajST) Office at , 

{Date) , 18—. 

Received from , of county, , the sum of dollars and 

cents, being final payment of one dollar per acre for the containing acres, at 

one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, the sum of twenty-five cents per acre hav- 
ing been heretofore paid, as per original receipt No. . 

, Beceivei'. 



92 

[No. 4-200.] 

DESERT LAND— ACT OF MARCH 3, 1877. 

Register's Final Certificate No. . Declaration No. 

Land Office at 



{DaU) , 18—. 

It is hereby certified that, in pursuance of the act of Congress approved March 
3, 1877, entitled "An Act to provide for the sale of desert lands in certain States and 

Territories," , of county, State or Territory of , has purchased 

of the register of this office, and made payment in full for the land described as fol- 
lows, to wit : , containing acres, at the rate of one dollar and twenty-five 

cents per acre, amounting to dollars. 

Now, therefore, be it known, that on presentation of this certificate to the Commis- 
sioner of the General Land Office the said shall he entitled to receive a 

patent for the tract of land above described. 

, Begister. 

[Note. — See origiBal declaration and receipt, No. — .] 



[No. 4-537.] 
TIMBER AND STONE LANDS— ACT OF JUNE 3, 1878. 

SWORN statement. 

Land Offke at 



(Date) , 18—. 

I, , of county, , desiring to avail myself of the provisions 

of the act of Congress of June 3, 1878, entitled ''An Act for the sale of timber lands 
in the States of California, Oregon, Nevada, and in Washington Territory," for the 

purchase of the of section , township , of range , do solemnly 

that I* ; that the said land is unfit for cultivation, and valuable chiefly for its 

; that it is uninhabited ; that it contains no mining or other improvements ; 

nor, as I verily believe, any valuable deposit of gold, silver, cinnabar, copper, or 
coal ; that I have made no other application under said act ; that I do not apply to 
purchase the land above described on speculation, but in good faith to appropriate it 
to my own exclusive use and benefit ; and that I have not, directly or indirectly, made 
any agreement or contract, in any way or manner, with any person or persons whom- 
soever, by which the title which I may acquire from the Government of the United 
States may inure in whole or in part to the benefit of any person except myself. 



Sworn to and subscribed before me this day of -, 18 — . 



[No. 4-371.] 

(The testimony of two witnesses, iq this form, taken separately, required in each case.) 

TIMBER AND STONE LANDS— ACT OF JUNE 3, 1878. 

testimony of witness. 

-, being called as a witness in support of the application of 



to purchase the of section , township , of range , testifies as 

follows : 

Ques. 1. What is your post-office address, and where do you reside ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 2. What is your occupation ? 

Ans. . 

* In case the party has been naturalized, or has declared his intention to become a citizen, a certified 
copy of his certificate of naturalization or declaration of intention, as the case may be, must be fur- 
nished. 



93 

Ques. 3. Are you acquainted with the land above described by personal inspection 
of each of its smallest legal subdivisions ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 4. When and in what manner was such inspection made? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 5. Is it occupied ; or are there any improvements on it not made for ditch or 
canal purposes, or which were not made by, or do not belong to, the said applicant ? 

Ans. . 

Ques 6. Is it fit for cultivation ? 

Ans. . ' ^ 

Ques. 7. What causes render it unfit for cultivation? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 8. Are there any salines, or indications of deposits of gold, silver, cinnabar, 
copper, or coal on this land ? If so, state what they are, and Avhether the springs or 
mineral deposits are valuable. 

Ans. . 

Ques. 9. Is the land more valuable for mineral or any other purposes than for the 
timber or stone thereon, or is it chiefly valuable for timber or stone? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 10. From what facts do you conclude that the land is chiefly valuable for 
timber or stone? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 11. Do you know whether the applicant has directly or indirectly made any 
agreement or contract, in any way or manner, with any person whomsoever, by 
which the title which he may acquire from the Government of the United States may 
inure, in whole or in part, to the benefit of any person excejjt himself? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 12. Are you in any way interested in this application, or in the lands above 
described, or the timber or stone, salines, mines, or improvements of any description 
whatever thereon ? 

Ans. . 



I HEREBY CEETIFY that witncss is a person of respectability; that each question 

and answer the foregoing testimony was read to before signed name 

thereto, and that the same was subscribed and sworn to before me this day of 

, 18-. 



!N"OTE. — The officer "before whom the testimony is taken shordd call the attention of the witness to 
the following section of the Revised Statutes, and state to him that it is the purpose of the Govern 
ment, if it be ascertained that he testifies falselj-, to prosecute him to the full extent of the law. 

"Title lxx.— CEIMES.— Ch. 4. 

" Sec 5392. Every person who, having taken an oath before a competent tribunal, officer, or person, 
in any case in which a law of the United States authorizes an oath to be administered, that he will 
testify, declare, depose, or certify truly, or that any written testimony, declaration, deposition, or cer- 
tificate by him subscribed is trae, willfully and contrary to such oath states and subscribes any ma- 
terial matter which he does not believe to be true, is guilty of perjury, and shall be punished by a fine 
of not more than two thousand dollars, and by imprisonment, at hard labor, not more than five years, 
and shall, moreover, thereafter, be incapable of giving testimony in any coart of the "United States 
until such time as the judgment against him is reversed." [See sec. 1750.] 



94 



UmTED STATES LAND OFFICES. 



Alabama. 


Dakota Ter. 


Michigan. 


Nebraska— Cont'd. 


Huntsville. 


Mitchell. 


Detroit. 


Niobrara. 
Grand Island. 


Montgomery. 


Watertown. 


East Saginaw. 


North Platte. 


Arkansas. 


Fargo. 


Eeed City. 


Bloomington. 


Little Rock. 


Yankton. 


Marquette. 


Nevada. 


Camden. 


Bismarck. 


Minnesota. 


Carson City. 


Harrison. 


Deadwood. 


Taylor's Falls. 


Eureka. 
New Mexico Ter. 


Dardanelle. 


Grand Forks. 


Saint Cloud. 


Santa F^. 


Arizona Ter. 


Florida. 


Du Luth. 


La Mesilla. 


Prescott. 


Gainesville. 


Fergus Falls. 


Oregon. 


Flore-nce. 


Idaho Ter. 


"Worthington. 


Oregon City. 


California. 


Bois^ City. 


Tracy. 


Eoseburg. 
Le Grand. 


San Francisco. 




Benson. 






Lewiston. 




Lakeview. 


Marysyille. 


Oxford. 


Crookston. 


The Dalles. 


Humboldt. 


Iowa. 


Eedwood FaUs. 


Utah Ter. 


Stockton. 




Mississippi. 


Salt Lake City. 


Visalia. 


Des Moines. 


Jackson. 


Washington Ter. 


Sacramento. 


Kansas. 


Missouri. 


Olympia. 
Vancouver. 


Los Angeles. 


Topeka. 


Boonville. 


Walla Walla. 


Shasta. 


Salina. 


Ironton. 


Colfax. 


Susanville. 


Independence. 


Springfield. 


Yakima. 


Bodie. 


Wichita. 


Montana Ter. 


Wisconsin. 


Colorado. 


Kirwin. 


Miles City. 


Menasha. 






Falls of St. Croix. 


Denver City. 


Concordia. 


Helena. 


Wausau. 


Leadville. 


Larned. 


Bozeman. 


La Crosse. 


Central City. 


Wa-Keeny. 


Nebraska. 


Bayfield. 
Eau Claire. 


Pueblo. 


Louisiana. 


Norfolk. 


Wyoming Ter. 


Del Norte. 


New Orleans. 


Beatrice. 


Cheyenne. 


Lake City. 


Natchitoches. 


Lincoln. 


Evanston. 



Note. — By act of July 31, 1876, the land-offices in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois Tvere abolished ; and 
by act of March 3, 1877, the vacant tracts of public land in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois are made subject 
to entry and location at the General Land Office, Washington, D. C. (See Kegulations, on page 24.) 



H 250 84 



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